Caveman
by Moebius2015
Summary: SG-1 and a young doctor experience gate-troubles and two of the men get stranded on a totally inhabited planet. They have only themselves to rely on for survival until the rest of SG-1 can rescue them, and discover the planet's secrets. Late in season 1, before Solitudes. Rated T for character death.
1. Caveman1

**Caveman**

 _Chapter 1_

During their first mission on P3X-186, SG-1 had made friends with the locals and stayed for three days in the village. The Garrec'hs were a simple people, mostly farmers and merchants in a somewhat medieval society. Daniel had been eager to learn more about them as he insisted they must have Celtic, or perhaps Norse ancestors. At first, SG-1 had thought the Garrec'hs had nothing more than friendship to offer, but that was before they had use for their healer.

On their way back to the gate, Daniel had fallen from a little cliff, injuring himself quite badly and his friends had feared the worst, refusing to move him in case his spine was damaged. Jack had sent Teal'c back to the gate to contact the SGC and ask for a medical team to be sent through immediately, only to see the villagers gathering around Daniel and interfere! Jack had been very pissed when no one had paid attention to him, even less obeyed his orders to leave Daniel alone. Jack had considered threatening them with his P90 but Sam had managed to dissuade him to, directing his anger at her, but she knew better than to be scared of him.

Orbald, the village leader, had sent for the local healer, who ordered the villagers to carry Daniel to his place. Jack and Sam had been completely ignored by the locals after that, the villagers would only listen to their wizard. At least, that's what Jack called him, because there was no other word for what the guy had done and it fitted well with his appearance anyway. He had the typical blue robes and long white beard required for the job. Jack could have sworn they would find a pointed hat in his hut if they were allowed to enter, but of course, they had been asked to stay outside while Daniel was in. Jack had been angry and tried to force himself into the hut, but the villagers didn't let him. They were friendly, but quite resolute that no one would disturb the wizard, and Jack had joined Sam, who was sitting on a fallen tree at some distance. They had both been waiting there in silence, worried that Daniel would be dead, or paralyzed for the rest of his life because some ignorant people would have wanted to perform a magical ritual on him instead of providing modern medical care. After about one hour and a half, even before Teal'c had returned with the medical team, Daniel had walked out of the hut, exhausted but completely healed!

At first, Sam had believed they had a sarcophagus, but there was really not such thing on the planet. She could not sense a symbiote in the wizard, and when Teal'c returned, he assured Jack that the wizard had not even been marked, so a healing device could not do the tricks either. Daniel had not been able to help uncover the mystery, as he had been unconscious most of the time in the hut, and he could only remember being treated with plants and potions.

Back at the SGC the docs had nonetheless declared him fit for duty, so SG-1 had been sent back to the planet to learn more about the Garrec'h's medicine, offering an exchange of "students" for a month's period. Young Dr Jerry Thompson had volunteered to stay and learn from the wizard, while Nalwynn, the wizard's apprentice, visited Earth and learned from Doc Fraiser.

After the exchange period was over, SG-1 geared up and accompanied Nalwynn back to her planet, where they were happy to find that Dr Thompson had been in good hands and felt he had learned much from his "master" during his stay. He had many plant samples for the labs to analyze, and knew how to use them to heal injuries and diseases. He was quite excited to go home and to set to work! The village had invited SG-1 and Thompson for a good-bye banquet to celebrate the friendship between the two planets, and for the safe return of Nalwynn with new knowledge from Earth. The banquet had however been shortened by heavy dark clouds promising a violent thunderstorm. SG-1 and Thompson rushed back to the gate before it would break. The storm was upon them and lightning flashes were illuminating the sky when the rain suddenly began to pour. The path became slippery with mud in a matter of minutes. Teal'c reached the gate first and secured the area while Daniel dialed up and Sam sent the IDC. Jack sent his team through while he waited for Thompson who had slipped in the mud and was pulling himself up. Jack helped him gather his samples bags and they jumped in the blue pool just as lightning struck the gate.

* * *

"Oh crap..." said Jack as he stepped out of the gate.

"What happened Colonel? Where are we?" said a slightly disoriented Thompson on his right.

"Nothing to worry about Doc, we've been sent to the wrong place. Again.." dropped Jack.

"Again?!" Thompson panicked. "Does that happen often?"

"Every now and then Doc. No need to panic. We'll dial home" said Jack. He climbed down the stairs of the gate toward the place DHDs usually stand. Only it was not there.

"Or not..." he noted. "Ah. That could be a problem"

"A problem? What kind of problem Sir?" asked Thompson joining him.

"No DHD" he said, looking around. "Nope. I don't see it. Have a look around Doc, see if you can find something"

The young doctor did as he was told. Fear started to creep inside him. That was his first mission, his first trip through the gate, but he had heard many stories from the others at the SGC, about aliens attacks, torture, implantation, and many many more scary things. But Colonel O'Neill seemed to be completely relaxed and have the situation under control, which helped the young man to calm down. They looked in the surrounding dry grass, and a little further at the border of a lush forest.

"This is strange Sir. The grass here is dry like in the African Savannah, and all of a sudden starts a tropical forest reminding me of the Amazonian one"

"Been in Amazonia, Thompson?" Jack asked.

"Why, actually yes. I worked one year in a lab there. We were studying the plants and how the locals used them as medicine"

"Right. Found anything?"

"Eeeh... As medicine you mean?"

"No, actually I was thinking of the DHD" pointed Jack.

"Sorry Sir. Nothing"

"Nice. Then we are stranded. Again"

"Excuse me Sir but... does that happen often?"

"Not that often Doc. But for some reason I seem to always be along when that happens. Come on, we have to establish a camp. At least it's not raining here, so we'll dry faster"

* * *

They established a camp at some distance from the gate. Although there was no footprints other than theirs around, it was better to be safe than sorry in case some Jaffa would decide to go through the gate just as they were there. It had happened before... They didn't see any sign of hostile life around either, but Jack decided they would keep watch during the night anyway. They built a fire and ate MRE rations for dinner.

"If Carter doesn't find something to get us back in the next 24 hours, we'll have to go for water. Our canteens will not last that long" Jack informed.

"Yes Sir" answered the young man in a somewhat depressed tone.

"Hey! We WILL go home. Don't you ever doubt that. Is that clear?" Jack shook him up.

"How do you know? We don't even know where we are ourselves!" cried Thompson.

"So what? You know how many times I've been stranded? Well... I don't even know myself. I lost track. But we always made it back, ready for the next time. Carter will think of something"

"You have a lot of faith in Captain Carter"

"Yep. If someone can find us, it's her" Jack casually informed.

"Good" smiled Thompson. Besides the horrible stories he had heard at the SGC, he had also heard rumors about Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter, and the faith the Colonel displayed for his 2IC showed definitely that something was up. Oh, nothing inappropriate, of course. But something...

"Go to sleep Thompson, I'll take first watch"

* * *

It had been three days since they had been stranded. They had found a furious river at some distance, where they had filled their canteens before heading back to the camp, but now it was time to move on. The area around the gate did not offer shelter nor supplies, so they left a sign for an eventual MALP to find, gathered their gear, leaving Thompson's plant samples there until they established a more permanent camp.

"Follow the yellow brick road!" Jack cheered up, leading the way toward the river. Thompson followed, hiding a smile. He liked the Colonel and his total lack of arrogance and pretense. He had a reputation of being an insubordinate hot head, fearless and sometimes foolish, but he and his team had also attained the status of heroes because they always saved the day. Despite that, the Colonel was very laid back, although he was clearly an experienced leader at ease in the field. His childish humor helped to keep the whole situation somehow casual. Well, as the Colonel had said, it was close to casual to him to be stranded, and he seemed to have full control, he was clearly in his element. It felt safe to be at such a man's side and the young doctor hoped the Colonel would not be disappointed by his own inexperience.

They had reached the river, which was raging its way through red and yellow rocks. Unable to hear each other, O'Neill made a sign that they should go upstream. They came to a fork and chose to follow the calmer of the two streams into a valley, which soon appeared to be a dead-end with the river falling from the plateau over in a beautiful waterfall.

"Looks like we have to head back" said Jack.

"Yeah... Unless you think we could use one of these caves as camp Sir?"

"Caves? What caves?"

"Look up there Sir" Thompson pointed. "There seem to be some openings in the cliff. I think these could be caves"

"Well done Doc. They probably are. But how do we get up there?" asked Jack.

"Point taken Sir" answered the young man disappointed. The openings were at least 10 feet up and there was no way to climb there. But the Colonel was not done yet, he was looking around for some other openings, taking mental notes of the floated trees laying around on the shore, of the direction of the sun, of the rocks on both sides of the river. Thompson didn't dare to interrupt the obvious calculations O'Neill was making and he was holding his breath in expectation until the Colonel turned to him and said with a smile:

"You know, as much as I would like to avoid crossing that river, I think our new house is over there" Thompson followed the finger pointing toward a big boulder on the other side of the river. At first he couldn't see it, but then he noticed a dark hole behind the boulder and became as enthusiastic as the Colonel. It looked like the big boulder was hiding a large cave! Now, they just had to cross over, and it was not that easy. Although the water was warm and nice in the pockets where the current wasn't raging, the center of the river was definitely deep with a strong undercurrent. They decided to take a lunch break while they were thinking the problem over.

"Sir" started Thompson "It looks to me like the river sprouts with so much force from the plateau and down, that there's a chance there's a passageway under the waterfall. What you think?"

"I think it's worth a try. That waterfall is definitely strong and bowing from the cliff. Let's go have a look" said Jack, jumping on his feet.

Walking on the rocky terrain was definitely not easy. They needed a good 10 minutes before they reached the fall but Thompson had been right in his assumption and they managed to cross on the slippery rocks to the other side of the valley. From there, the terrain was much easier to walk and they were at the big boulder in no time. But their happiness was short lived when they realized that although there actually was a cave behind the boulder, said boulder was so big that it covered the entrance completely and they could not reach inside.

"Damn!" cried Jack frustrated. "This place was just perfect! Oriented South, cozy and all! Why did that sonofabitch of a boulder have to be so ridiculously large?!"

"Well Sir, if we somehow managed to... I don't know.. detach a part of that boulder, or move it just a little... " reflected Thompson.

"Yeah sure. Have you seen how big it is?" growled Jack.

"Yes, it's big, but it is also a kind of schist. See how the grain is following parallel lines? You can see the edges of the boulder are quite neat because it breaks in flat sheets. I'm sure if we find a crack up on the top and manage to coil something inside, a whole, flat block would pop out of the boulder"

"You sure?" asked Jack interested. "Look, the cave does not open from the bottom, it's a good 4 feet above the ground. Do you think we could pop a 3 feet thick block out of that and use it as a front step?"

"Well, if we find a crack at that width on the top, it's definitely worth a try" answered the young man eagerly while he started climbing.

"So what you see?" asked Jack from the ground.

"I don't think we can make the 3 feet thick block, but there's definitely hope for a 5 feet one"

"Oh my! That just won't be the same!" Jack complained heavily. Thompson had the indulgence to smile.

"OK then" Jack continued. "We'll go for a 5 feet one! What you need?"

"A big pole would be nice but the crack is only 2 fingers width..."

"Would that rock be OK?" asked Jack, lifting a triangular stone which could set as a wedge.

They tried the wedge, they tried a pole, they both jumped and pushed and banged, the boulder was not moving and they were growing tired as the afternoon was fading.

"Okay, that's enough!" roared Jack. "Grenade!"

He placed a grenade securely in a crack at the bottom of the boulder, attached a string to the safety pin and sent Thompson to hide behind a rock at some distance. Then, from the end of his string, he pulled the pin out of the grenade and ran like hell toward Thompson. The explosion sent the detached block up, then it landed flat and slid further toward the river before it came to a stop some 20 feet away from the boulder. Unfolding his arms from his head, Jack cast a glance behind and was quite satisfied with that he saw.

"Well, so much for a front step, but at least we got a picnic table! Come, let's take a look inside"

The opening left by the explosion was large enough for the two of them to stand side by side. The rest of the block was acting as a wall which would protect them from wind and rain but the opening between the cliff and the top of the boulder would allow smoke to get out. Inside was a large room, although the roof rapidly sloped toward the back of the cavern. A fairly large fallen stone, about two thirds of the way across the place, divided the place into two rooms. The little room behind the stone was incredibly dark as the light did not reach so far in, but it could be a good place for a bathroom when the river would be too cold to shower in. The schist provided flat surfaces and with some work they would have shelves and plane areas to sleep on. That was just perfect!

Evening was falling, Thompson organized their gear in the cavern while Jack went for firewood and water. They dropped a flat stone in front of the cavern to act as front step so it would be easier to come in and out, which Jack's knees were thankful for. They decided to keep watch during the night as they hadn't had time to look for tracks in the area, and wondered if the explosion had been heard by anyone around, if the planet was inhabited.

* * *

"Aaaah... Gosh!" complained Jack as he woke up. "I'm not spending another night on this stone floor! I'm gonna get some grass first thing when we get back here this afternoon!"

"Morning Sir" smiled Thompson. "I'm not gonna ask you if you slept well, the answer to that is quite obvious"

Jack glared at him as he extracted himself from his sleeping bag and painfully stood up.

"Wait til you are my age, young man! Then we'll talk again!" he said on his way out to find a tree and relieve his bladder. When he came back, he had the nice surprise to find Thompson preparing a trout on their picnic table.

"Hey! Where'd you find that beauty?" he cried.

"I figured I could try some fishing during my watch this morning. It looks like there's plenty of those in the river"

"Excellent!" spouted Jack in his best Burns imitation. His aching back was instantly better as he went back to the woods in search of branches they could spear the fish on to grill it over the fire. THAT kind of breakfast was scoring way over MRE standards!

Their day was spent in organizing the camp, retrieving the plant samples from the gate and leaving the coordinates of their cave for the rescue team to find them, cutting grass for mattresses, gathering wood and trying to catch more trout for dinner. They had not encountered inhabitants on the planet, nor seen signs that there even had been any, except for the presence of the gate.

In the forests and steppes that surrounded them, Thompson would sample the vegetation and use his skills to determine which plants could be used for food or medicine. Jack would set up snares for small mammals and birds, occasionally shooting down bigger game with his bow.

Jack had divided the surrounding areas into six zones, named after days of the week, and they would explore each of them in turn. The gate was in the Wednesday area, so every Wednesday, they would take the 45 minutes trip to the gate and search for any sign that someone had been there. Except for bird footprints, they never found a thing, so they added a stone to the message intended for the rescue team, and left to explore the area further. On their Sundays, they would stay at the camp and deal with what needed to be done there.

After three weeks of exploring and working, standing watch and sleeping on the hard stone floor (even with grass mattresses it was still hard), they were tired. Jack decided that they didn't need to stand watch anymore, as they had encountered nothing they could define as a threat, and they both needed their rest. Thompson was amazed that the Colonel never seemed to tire. He, who was much younger, felt like collapsing on his bed when they came back to camp after a day exploring, while the Colonel went on skinning the animals he had killed and preparing dinner, getting more wood, carving spoons and plates for them both, well, he never stopped! He never seemed to loose hope either. He kept saying over and over again that Captain Carter would find them, he kept insisting on visiting the gate each Wednesday to check that the messages they had left were still there. He kept planning and talking about the future. Thompson didn't believe anymore that they had a future. In his head, he would die as a caveman on this planet and no one would ever know what had become of them...

"Sir... What is the usual procedure at the SGC when... you know.. someone goes missing?" asked Thompson.

"They are trying all they can think of to get us back" said Jack softly.

"No.. I mean... What are the procedures... Official ones I mean..?"

"Like when do they declare us MIA?"

"Yeah... And when do they tell... our... families...?"

"Ah" posed Jack. "Well, General Hammond is the one who decides when we are MIA. Depends on what they have tried, and how long, and how difficult the remaining options are"

"And when we are MIA, what happens?"

"Then, Hammond gives a call to your family to let them know... Anyone waiting for you?"

"My parents. They must be desperate to know what happened to me... That was my first mission off-world, I've never been missing before" said Thompson obviously distressed.

"No girlfriend?" asked Jack in an attempt to lighten his humor.

"No. I'm not dating girls... "

"What you mean? You gay?"

"Oh no, no.. What I mean is... I had someone, but she died last year in a car crash. I kind of feel like I could never look at someone else. She was the One, you know?"

"... Yeah..." Jack paused, a flash of pain in his eyes. "What's her name?"

"Alice" the young man said while a glowing smile illuminated his face, showing so much love at the memory that Jack hurt for him. "What about you Sir?"

"What?" Jack jumped, afraid he had let his emotions about his own "One" show.

"Anyone waiting for you?"

"No"

"You must be kidding me now Sir?! You have friends don't you?"

"Well yeah... I guess my team's waiting for me. Hammond too I s'pose. But no family" The way he pronounced the last words prevented Thompson from asking anymore questions.

* * *

The young doctor was silently poking at his dinner and Jack knew exactly what was bothering him. He had been stranded often enough to know how the mind worked in that case: the boy was tired, and he didn't think they would make it. Jack was tired too, and his faith in a rescue was faltering now and then, but he would rather die than let his companion know that. As a CO, it was his responsibility to keep his people up, and the kid needed a distraction from everyday chores, so he would quit thinking too much.

"So, what did Merlin teach you?" Jack asked suddenly.

"Merlin Sir?" the young man wondered.

"Yeah, the wizard, you know, with the beard"

"Ah... Master Albereic'h?"

"Yeah. Whatever" Jack smirked.

"Well.. he did show me how to identify plants and find out how to use them, then he showed me how to cure wounds and diseases with the plants from his planet. A little like what I did in Amazonia, but he brought it to a much higher level. A wizard is actually a good description of him, I would say" he smiled.

"Yeah? Why don't you show me?"

"Really Sir?"

"Yeah. Never know how handy that could come if you got sick or something"

"That's a good point Sir. I'll try to teach you how to test plants tomorrow on our trip, and you could also learn to recognize what we find. I'll go and get my "Friday plants". If you learn those tonight, you might be able to recognize them on our trip tomorrow. Would that be OK?" the young man asked, more alive than he had been in the last few days.

"That would be very nice Doc" Jack agreed.

"Fine Sir, but then I would like you to teach me to set snares up and to prepare the skins of the animals you kill. I've seen you doing it but I would like to know more. I might have the use for that one day"

"You've got yourself a deal Son!" smiled Jack, shaking the young man's hand.

From that point, both men taught the other whatever knowledge they had about almost anything. One evening, Jack had just finished plaiting himself a hammock with creepers from the Wednesday tropical forest, and he was supervising Thompson who struggled with his own while the young man was teaching Jack how to prepare the ointment they used to protect their skins from the sun. They sat at their picnic table, chatting peacefully.

"Where did you learn all that Sir? I'm sure the survival courses the Air Force provides don't include how to prepare skins, use bladders as water pouches, plait hammocks, make soap bars from ashes, fat and... clay?, or use pine needles for tea, do they?" the young man asked.

"Well yeah, actually the pine needles tea is from the survival course, but the rest I learned from my grandparents. You see, I was pretty young when I lost my father, and my mother was working hard, she didn't have time to take care of me. She was afraid of what could happen to me if I kept hanging around with the bad guys on the Chicago streets, so she sent me to her parents. They lived in a small cabin in Minnesota. I'll take you there some day" Jack smiled, casting a sidelong look to the young man while he worked on mashing leaves on the stone table.

"You grew up in a cabin in Minnesota?" Thompson wondered.

"Yeah. It was a bit of a change for me to end up in the middle of the forest after a childhood in the busy streets of a big town, but I had my best boy years there. My GrandPa was a Norwegian, he was really a man of the outdoors. He loved hunting, fishing and making anything from wood. My GrandMa was from Mohawk descent and she knew all about cooking dried meat and fish, preparing soft skins and making clothes out of them. I loved running in the woods on moccasins back then"

"Really? That sounds like any boy's dream! But I thought you were of Irish descent?"

"Yeah, my father's father was. He had married a Scottish girl and they ran a hotel in Chicago. What about you? Where you from?"

"Ack... Nothing as exotic as you. British descent mostly, with one Irish grandmother"

"Hey, that makes us cousins!" Jack joked.

"Yeah sure" Thompson smiled. "So you grew up on dried meat and fish until you entered the Academy?"

"Nah! Come on Thompson! Growing up in a cabin doesn't mean being cut off from the world! We had a car, and later I got myself a bike. We used to go to town and sell what we made. My grandparents had quite a reputation in the area, and in the sixties that kind of knowledge was very popular. Once in a while, a flower-power-hippie-bus would bounce down the dirt road and the guys would ask my grandparents to teach them what they knew, before they went on and tried to live on their own in the Big Wild World. We had nice evenings chatting and singing by the campfire... I remember especially a nice couple who had stayed 2-3 weeks at our place. They left for Canada and several months later, we heard they didn't make it. That made such an impression on me that I learned anything I could about survival skills, no matter what..."

"Wow... do you know... what happened to them?" asked Thompson respectfully.

"Yeah. I know" Jack had no intent of telling more. The guy had been killed by a grizzly, and later on, the girl had starved for weeks before she killed herself by falling or throwing herself from a cliff. Their diary had been published in the local newspaper, along with a picture of the nice couple, smiling with flowers in their hair. He still had shivers when he thought about it.

* * *

Although it was very nice to have a companion, the two men were beginning to resent being stuck together 24/7. Thompson had definitely lost any hope of being rescued, and Jack was grumpy, at best. They were on their way to the gate for their Wednesday recon, when Thompson decided there was no point in doing that and insisted they explored another part of the Wednesday area. Jack wouldn't hear of it and they started arguing, until Thompson turned on his heels and made his way through the high grass, away from the gate.

"Thompson! Come back here this instant!" Jack yelled.

"Go to hell!" the young man yelled back.

"Come back here at once Lieutenant" Jack warned. Thompson stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned back, clearly angry at the Colonel.

"You don't need to pull rank Sir. I respect you because you are a respectable man and I follow your orders because you have more experience than I have. But here we have been stranded for four months and I think ranks are a bit out of place in this situation. Colonel, Sir"

Jack was a big enough man to recognize when he went too far, and yeah.. the situation had not been a military issue and there was no reason to pull ranks, other than to force the other guy to do as he wanted.

"Right... I'm sorry. Look, why don't you call me Jack?"

"OK Jack. Call me Jerry" the young man agreed. He walked back to Jack, who was looking sheepishly at him.

"I guess we need a little space from each other, don't we? As much as I like your company, we are suffering from cabin fever here. I'll go to the gate and you... can go back to the camp do whatever you want, OK?"

"I suppose you are right, it would do us good to have some time for ourselves. But you know, I would really like to go and explore that area while you go to the gate. We've never been to that part of the tropical forest and I could find some new interesting specimens"

"I don't know Jerry, as you say, we've never been there before, I don't like the idea of you going there alone. Perhaps we'd better take alone time tomorrow, and I join you today?"

"No really Sir.. Jack. I'd like to go now, it'd be fun. I'll see you at the camp tonight"

"Alright. But come back before say... 4 o'clock OK? And take extra arrows with you" Jack said reluctantly, handing him arrows from his own supplies.

"Thanks. See you later" said Jerry as he resolutely walked away. Jack stood on the path until the young man had disappeared in the forest. Then he went to the gate, added a 16th stone to the pile showing how many weeks they had been stranded, and he visited his snares before he headed back to the camp, anxious that Jerry was alone on this unknown part of the area.

* * *

It was nearly five and Jerry hadn't showed up. Jack was worried sick and on his way to track the young man down. He reached the spot where he had last seen him, and ventured into the forest. It was one of those tropical kind of forests, high trees with bright green big leaves that stopped most of the light and gave the forest a cool and gloomy undergrowth. The soil was soft and nearly elastic, which made it difficult to follow Jerry's tracks. Luckily, further in, the vegetation creeping on the ground bore track of where Jerry's foot had torn leaves, broken sticks or disturbed the layer of dense moss over the black soil. Jack followed the track as fast as he could, calling from time to time, a very bad feeling creeping up his chest. Suddenly, the track stopped on the edge of a little cliff. Apparently, a piece of soil had collapsed under Jerry's weight and the kid would be down there. But it was too dark for Jack to see anything so he reached for his flashlight and directed it into the hole.

As the light reached the bottom, Jack heard a creepy rustling noise and perceived a metallic mass moving from the light, like millions of bugs... and as the bugs moved away from the light, Jack's heart sank in his chest when Jerry's body emerged from under them...

"Jerry!" he cried as he climbed down. "Jerry!"

He reached the young man, keeping the bugs away with his flashlight and searching feverishly for a pulse.

"Thank God!" he said when he found one. He tried to wake Jerry but he had obviously passed out. Jack pulled him up on his shoulders, keeping the bugs as far away as he could with the flashlight. A couple of them had hidden under Jerry and bit Jack when he reached under his legs, but apart from that they didn't attack. Jack struggled to climb back up to the forest with Jerry on his shoulders and he walked as fast as he could back to the camp. The fire was still going and he had warm water ready to wash Jerry's wounds. He then noticed that his ankle was broken too, which was probably why he couldn't manage to get out of the hole and had been overcome by the bugs. Removing Jerry's clothes, Jack was horrified to see that his body had millions of red, swollen bites everywhere. He reached for the ointment they used for insects bites, praying that it would be enough to heal his friend, although he feared the bites were poisonous, seeing how swollen and purulent they were. He decided to try different treatments on different parts of Jerry's body, then he mended his ankle before he tried to wake him up. Jerry obviously had a high fever and it was important to make him drink. Jerry woke up but was delirious and Jack could not get any help from him, neither to tell him what had happened nor to help with the appropriate treatment.

Comparing the results of the treatments he had applied on the different parts of Jerry's body, Jack ended up using a combination of their ointments for insect bites and sunscreen, and gave him brews to fight the fever. He worked through the night to keep his companion warm but not overheated, changing his dressings, mixing new plants for more ointments, waking him up regularly to be sure he was not in a coma. Jack feared he had internal bleeding but could not find the cause for that, as there was no apparent wound on his body except for the bites and the broken ankle. However, he displayed all the signs... In the morning Jack was exhausted and dozing when Jerry woke up. He was so weak that Jack was pained for his friend. He tried to give him water to drink but the young man smiled poorly.

"It's too late, I had too much poison, it's eating me inside, I'm not gonna make it"

"What are you saying kid! Your fever is down, you'll be alright!" Jack protested, panicking at the sight of a tiny blood drop leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"It has been an honor to be stranded with you Sir. I'm sorry I have to leave you alone now. I hope you find a way home. If you do, please, take my ashes back to my parents... Tell them... I had a happy life... I'll go to Alice now. Good luck Jack..."

"Oh God! Jerry no! No!" Jack cried. He lifted the head of the young man on his lap and cradled him, sobbing over the loss of the friend he had come to see as a son, and over the unbearable solitude his death was leaving him to.

After he had cried his eyes out, Jack was too exhausted and numb to act on the young man's last wishes at once. He removed his friend's dog tags and hung them around his own neck. Then he packed the body in a large skin Jerry had prepared to make himself new pants. He stayed at his side the whole day, then, toward the end of the afternoon, he managed to pull himself out of the cavern to go and gather as much wood as he could to build a pyre. The following day, he walked back and forth countless times, dragging branches through the wood or throwing them from the plateau down to the camp. As evening was falling, he finally laid Doctor Jerry Thompson on the top of the wooden pile, and ignited it. He stood, honoring his friend, until the pyre was consumed. In the morning, as the ashes had cooled down, he packed them up in a skin bag and wrapped the dog tags round the knot. Placing the pack in a dry place in the cavern, he could hear the Tin Man singing in his head:

"Just to register emotion, jealousy, devotion, and really feel the part

I could stay young and chipper, and I'd lock it with a zipper

If I only had a heart.."

Jack buried his head in his hands and whispered... "If I only had no heart.."

* * *

The following days were incredibly silent and lonely. Jack had grown used to Jerry's presence and help any time of the day. Now there was no one but absence. He had spared his friend's clothes and sleeping bag but they were as worn out as his own and he reckoned he would have to make himself new ones, as well as fill his food supplies in preparation for winter. He had no idea how cold it would be but in the 4 months they had been there, the seasons had followed Earth patterns for spring and summer so he could not expect to avoid a winter season. He would need less supplies and skins now that he was alone, but he would have to do all the work by himself and he would have to modify some of his methods. Hunting for example, had been easier when Jerry had stood in the wind to push the herds of antelope-like animals toward him. Now he would have to sneak up to them before he would be able to shoot them down. Of course, he had his P90 but he wanted to keep the ammunition for emergencies, so he decided he would only resort to it if he did not catch anything with his bow in the course of one week.

Days followed days, weeks followed weeks. He was now living, and looking, like a real caveman, he realized. His knife was not sharp enough to shave closely so he wore a 3-days stubble, and his hair had grown far past regulation cut. He was usually shirtless, as it was still quite warm and he spared his shirts and t-shirts for the cold season. His pants were completely worn out, so he had replaced them with skin leggings and loin cloths cut on the Native American model. He spared his heavy military boots for walking on the rocky shores of the river, and changed them for moccasins otherwise. The only remnants from his life as a 20th century Earth man were his sleeping bag, weapons and dog tags, plus the contents of his vest.

Time went fast with so much to do, and he kept himself busy to avoid thinking too much about his situation. Sometimes, he would despair, missing someone to talk to, and wondering if Carter would ever find him. But he realized that thinking of Sam was making things even worse as it bodily hurt to do so. He was missing her so much, even if nothing had ever happened between them he missed flirting with her, making her laugh, or smile, the way she looked at him, the connection he felt between them. She seemed to understand him without his having to explain anything, and they could communicate with their eyes. As time went by, he realized that Captain Sam Carter had taken a special place in his life. She was, as Jerry said, "The One", who made him feel he could never have this kind of connection with anyone else. Not that he had so many people to choose between on this God forgotten planet. Damn! He could even do with Hathor at that point! ... Or not... Nope... He was not THAT desperate yet.

Hunting was taking most of his time. First he had to find the damned antelopes, then sneak up to them without scaring them, and shoot one down. He tried to shoot young animals, as they tasted better and he didn't like to shoot females having fawns anyway. They were also easier to carry back to the camp. When he missed, he would have to find his arrow again. It was too difficult to make them right that he could waste them, but he did not always recover them and as his supply was beginning to get low, he suddenly remembered that Jerry's bow and arrows were still in the forest. He decided to go and retrieve them on his next Wednesday trip to the gate.

When he arrived there, he was looking for a new stone to add to the 26 others, when he suddenly stopped dead in his track. There, just at the bottom of the gate's steps, stood a MALP! He couldn't believe it! His heart started pumping hard as he run to the beloved robot and started jumping, singing, yelling and dancing around it! Breathing hard, he calmed down to try and see if he could find some footprint around it but it looked like the SGC had not come so far as to send the rescue team. He was not sure the MALP had seen his signs so he moved it to aim the camera toward them, and he hung his tags there too, just in case. He wanted to sit there and wait for SG-1 to step in, but he knew it could take some days before Hammond allowed the rescue if they didn't see his signs. So he went on with his task of retrieving the bow and arrows from the forest, his spirits were lightened with the hope he would not need them much longer now that the MALP was there.

Once in the forest, it took him some time to find his way back to the bug rift. But when he did, he could not restrain a cry of stupor. On the other side of the rift stood a little, square pyramid. It was well hidden by the luxurious vegetation around, but there was no doubt it was a human made construction, a temple of some sort. The first and only sign so far that the planet had been inhabited at some point, beside the gate itself. Jack was really excited, and after retrieving Jerry's weapons from the rift, he climbed on the other side to explore the construction further. The place was solid but completely dark and Jack didn't have his flashlight so he regretfully postponed the exploration to the next day.

As he left the forest to return to his camp, he nearly bumped into a herd of antelopes running his way. He had had no luck in finding them lately so this was his chance of some fresh meat. In their panic, the animals were jumping in all directions and as one of them passed just under his nose, Jack took the chase up, running all out to catch a young calf, jump on it and slice its throat. Panting, he rose to his feet and reached for a leather string at his belt so he could bind the legs together and carry his catch easily. Then he walked back to where he had dropped his bow, and, satisfied by his day, he slowly headed back home, unaware that he was being watched.

* * *

Since Colonel O'Neill and Dr Thompson had been missing on their way back to Earth, SG-1 had made numerous attempts to understand what had happened to them, and then Captain Carter had noticed the dark spot on the gate, witnessing of the lightning impact on the fifth chevron of the Garrec'h's gate. She had then run as many simulations as possible to try and understand how the energy overload of the gate would influence the traveling of the men who had been unfortunate to step in when the lightning stroke. Her calculations had given them a large number of possibilities, as she assumed that the extra energy would have sent the wormhole to a planet far beyond the initially programmed address. Assuming the wormhole had kept its direction, she had run an algorithm that gave them a list of possible planets on the wormhole's line, and it had taken them many months to explore these.

Some of the planets had been inhabited, and the SG-teams had to make sure that the locals were not lying when they said their friends had not visited them. Many times, the SG-teams felt they had to make sure the two men weren't indeed prisoners or killed by the locals, some of them being very hostile cultures. Several members of the rescue teams had ended up in the infirmary during their mission, and after Captain Carter had once more nearly been killed, General Hammond drew the line. He declared both men MIA and refused to send any more teams through the gate as long as Sam had not completely recovered from her injuries. Senator Kinsey had complained that so many resources had been spent on only two men and pressed the President to order a return to normal operations at the SGC. Therefore, General Hammond had had to follow his orders and left it to SG-1 to find a way to save the missing men.

Daniel was absolutely pissed when he heard that. Sam was still in the infirmary after a staff weapon wound in the thigh, which would require several weeks of therapy for her muscles to recover completely. She was very frustrated to be forced to rest, and especially, that her wound would be the delaying factor in the rescue process. But Hammond could not allow them through the gate on rescue missions anymore. They had to come up with a plan to continue their quest without the Joint Chiefs questioning their actions. Daniel proposed that they would continue their negotiations with the Garrec'hs and lead rescue missions from there. After all, O'Neill and Thompson had gone missing after stepping through _their_ gate... Six months after the men had gone missing, Captain Carter sent a MALP through the gate while she overloaded it by feeding the gate with an energy beam comparable to the energy from the lightning strike.

"We are receiving a signal, Captain Carter" said Teal'c.

"Telemetry readings indicate that the planet where the MALP has landed is not in the direction we expected" wondered Daniel while he surveyed the screen of Sam's laptop.

"Oh my God!" Sam cried. "The planet is at the exact same distance as between P3X-186 and Earth but on the diametrically opposite direction. It would appear that the lightning stroke reversed the wormhole instead of sending it past Earth! Why didn't I think about that!?" she blamed herself.

"We've got a visual!" exclaimed Daniel eagerly.

"It appears this planet is not inhabited" observed Teal'c soberly. "The DHD is missing"

"If the Colonel has been stranded on that planet, he couldn't have dialed home. That makes sense..." Sam analyzed. "Let's see if we can find any signs of their presence there. Daniel, could you drive the MALP around please?"

"Yeah, sure!"

After the regular sweeping of the area, Daniel tried to point the camera down to the ground and they found a pile of stones, definitely human made, together with a typical SGC distress flag. The three SG-1 members shouted in victory and hugged each other in relief! They had found them!

Daniel tried to drive the MALP around again to see it they could locate the men, but they knew the Colonel would have established a permanent camp somewhere else and did not worry further. They shut the wormhole down and dialed the SGC to return to Earth, report to General Hammond and prepare the final rescue mission.

* * *

When they stepped through the gate, they rushed to the distress flag to find the message O'Neill had left them. They hid their gear in nearby bushes, keeping only their personal backpacks on for the walk. Teal'c noticed many footprints around the gate and Daniel pointed out that the MALP had been moved. Sam noticed the dog tags hanging in front of the camera, and her heart jumped with joy when she read Colonel O'Neill's name on them. They began their trip toward the coordinates indicated on the message, and after only a few minutes, they scared a herd of antelopes which run away from them. Observing the graceful animals, SG-1 discovered the planet was inhabited by a primitive people. They had spotted a man hunting down the animals, catching one of them after a short and wild chase. The man was athletically build, his tanned chest showing strong muscles. His skin leggings and moccasins-like shoes made him look like a Sioux, although his hair and beard were brown. After he had secured his catch on his shoulders, he walked back to retrieve his bow and arrows, then, he slowly walked away.

"Wow. That was impressive... Did you see how he caught that deer?" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yeah... He certainly was a sight. Do you think he was alone?" Sam asked her companions.

"I can not see any one else, Captain Carter. I think it's safe to continue our journey, although we should beware of the hunter. It looks like he went in the direction indicated on the message" Teal'c pointed out.

"Do you think Jack and Thompson would have settled in a local village?" Daniel wondered.

"Yeah, it's very likely" Sam reflected.

As they suddenly caught sight of the hunter again, Sam signaled them to hide. Unfortunately, Daniel stamped on a branch, which cracked under his foot. The hunter made an immediate 180° turn and arming his bow, he scrutinized the forest edge for long minutes before he resumed his walk.

"Sorry 'bout that" Daniel whispered. Sam made a sign for him to remain silent for a good five more minutes, until the hunter was out of sight.

"It's not your fault Daniel, but I'm sure this guy is a wonderful hunter and he would spot us at once if we are not careful. We'll stay put until dark. Lets move over there so we are not on the path anymore, and we can have a snack while we wait. Keep quiet, in case other hunters come back the same way"

* * *

Jack had heard a crack in the forest he had just left. He took his time to study the vegetation to see if anything moved. From the sound of it, the branch that had been cracked was relatively thick, which required an animal of a certain size to crack it. Jack found it strange that such an animal would stay put while he walked by. But when nothing moved, he decided that perhaps, a rotten branch had fallen down, and he resumed his walk, although he kept his senses on alert.

Once home, he opened the animal's belly to empty the rumen and the guts. Then, he carefully skinned the beast and put the main part of the meat to dry while one of the legs was roasting and potato-like tubers were cooking under the ashes. The night was falling and he became suddenly alert. There was something wrong going on: the forest, which usually was filled with singing birds at dinner time, was completely silent tonight... Feeling observed, he continued to prepare his meal, although he moved the meat aside so it would not burn in his absence. Then, he grabbed his bow and pretended to leave the camp by climbing up to the plateau. Jerry and he had managed to make a rope ladder from creepers, and from the plateau, he would be able to see any intruder, and take them from the rear if necessary.

* * *

As night was falling, SG-1 sneaked up toward the hunter's camp. They could see his fire, and observed him working on his catch in the twilight of the evening. After a while, a soft breeze brought them the delicious smell of grilled meat and all of them thought with frustration that their own dinner would consist of cold MRE rations... Suddenly, they lost sight of the hunter, until Teal'c spotted him climbing up the cliff at a surprising speed. When they were certain that he was gone, they crept carefully to his camp, hoping to find the Colonel and the Doctor there, probably prisoners in the cave where they had seen the hunter disappear several times while they were watching him. Sam led the way and Teal'c watched their six. Everything was silent and Sam's heart was pounding hard as she wondered if they had come too late. The cave was at the exact coordinates indicated on the message... And true enough, they found SGC sleeping bags and weapons in the cave. There was no doubt that their friends had been there! But where were they now, and what kind of relationship did they have with the hunter?

From his hiding place on the plateau, Jack couldn't believe his own eyes. Down at his camp, three silhouettes were approaching his cave, holding weapons looking very much like P90s and moving very much like Earth soldiers. The first one had strikingly light hair. And the last one had the unmistakable stature of a big Jaffa. Could this really be his team? Was SG-1 really there? Or was he losing his mind to hallucinations from too much loneliness? He had dreamed this moment for so long... He could not make himself believe it was true. His heart was pounding hard at the sight of the beloved silhouettes creeping up to his camp. He decided to take the chance to rely on what he saw, and began a frantic run down to the valley. When he arrived, the silhouettes were nowhere to be seen, so Jack made a careful approach, sneaking up to his cave. He heard voices from inside and felt his legs turn to jelly. He took a moment to regain his spirits, and walked up to the entrance.

There was Teal'c, keeping watch, although he was looking inside and did not see him coming before he was just in front of him.

"Teal'c" said a shivering but known voice. Teal'c turned suddenly and came face to face with the hunter. In the dim light, he could not make out the facial features, but the intense eyes were enough to confirm what the voice had told him.

"O'Neill" he said. Sam and Daniel rushed out of the cave and gaped at the sight of the hunter.

"Jack?" Daniel uttered, uncertain.

"Sir!" Sam confirmed, reaching for him. Jack grabbed her in a hug, soon joined by Daniel and Teal'c. Overwhelmed by his emotions, Jack was both laughing and sobbing while he hugged his friends with all his strength.

"Guys... You really here?! I can't believe it!" he said between sobs. Both Daniel and Sam were crying too, gently patting his back, and Teal'c did his best to keep his eyes dry.

When everyone had come to his senses, Jack put the meat back on the fire, added some more tubercles under the ashes and they updated each other with the events of the past six months while they waited for dinner. Late in the night, they decided it was time to get some sleep. As Jack assured them there was no need to stand watch, they all sacked out in the suddenly small cave, but Jack wouldn't have traded the feeling for anything in the world. Between the sleeping platforms with dry grass and the hammocks, there was plenty of room anyway. From his hammock, Jack couldn't make himself close his eyes, afraid that it all was a dream and that his friends would be gone in the morning.

* * *

Daniel was eager to explore the temple Jack had found before heading back to Earth. Jack packed his stuff. Then they met up at the gate for the scheduled radio contact with the SGC. When Jack's picture showed on the screens of the control room, a roar of victory from Earth came through the MALP and made SG-1 smile.

"It's good to see you well Colonel" said Hammond soberly after the personnel gathered in the control room had calmed down.

"Good to hear you too Sir. I'm looking forward to going home"

"I can understand that Son. How is Dr Thompson?"

The smile vanished from O'Neill's face, then he answered. "He didn't make it Sir. He asked me to take his ashes back to his parents"

There was an odd silence in the room before Hammond answered: "I'm sorry to hear that. You will tell us all about it when you are back. When can we expect you?"

Captain Carter took over: "Colonel O'Neill found a little temple 15 minutes from here. It is apparently the only sign that the planet was once inhabited, aside from the presence of the gate itself. We would like to explore it before we leave Sir. We expect it to take no more than three hours. Then, we have to connect the portable DHD and hopefully it will work at once"

"Fine Captain. We will keep the lights on for you. Hammond out"

* * *

The temple was indeed very small. A short corridor led to a single, simple room, which was infested with the same bugs as those who had killed Jerry. Chasing them away with their flashlights, SG-1 looked for any signs from the temple builders, but didn't find any.

"That's very strange Jack!" said Daniel. "I've never seen a temple without at least the name of the god it's been built for on it. It doesn't make sense..."

"Well yeah, I'm sorry Daniel, it looks like the people who built it were all for the minimalist style. Can we go now?"

"I must agree with Daniel Sir, it doesn't make sense to build a temple and leave no sign about its function" Sam agreed.

"I have never seen such a thing O'Neill" the Jaffa supplied.

"All right all right. Let's have a look on the outside then, but you know, on Earth there's many buildings and temples without writings on them. It should be OK to stumble upon one of those when we are off-world too" said Jack on his way out.

The external walls were heavily carved with square motifs that reminded Jack of the Mayas. Or the Incas. He could never tell the difference. He just knew it looked like the one in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. He could only hope this one was not booby trapped.

Daniel was getting frustrated. He couldn't make sense of this joke! Sam had noticed a strange stone in the middle of the tile floor inside the temple, but they didn't find any mechanism to lift it, and it didn't seem to be connected to anything else. The carvings outside didn't explain anything either, and Daniel just knew Jack would call an end to the mission any moment now.

"Danieeeeel! I haven't had cake for SIX months. Let's go"

"There! I just knew it!" cursed Daniel under his breath. Some things never changed...

"Oh come on now! We've been here for 2 hours, and we didn't find shit. Let's go back to the gate! You can come back here whenever you want to study that damned temple! In the meantime, you can sit in your lab and think of something to open that tile in the floor, you can even find an explanation in one of your books, but let's go back NOW!" Jack argued.

"All right all right..." dropped Daniel, giving in. "I've got it all on tape anyway.. We can go"

"THANK YOU!" said Jack, turning his heels to him and making his way toward the gate.

"Sir" Sam called. "I suppose you have explored all the area around here. Is there any other... tropical forest?"

"Nope, only this one. Why?"

"Well, don't you think it's strange, this rather humid kind of vegetation in the otherwise quite dry area?"

"Yeah, Thompson mentioned that too. Probably an underground spring or something like that"

"I wonder if the temple has something to do with it..." Sam reflected. "And I find it very strange that the DHD is missing from the gate. I've looked around, there is no sign that there ever has been one"

"We didn't find anything of the kind either" Jack agreed. "We have to assume that the people who left it here had some other means of dialing the gate up"

"Mmm.." Sam answered. "That is just so strange... Like nothing we have seen so far"

"I agree Captain, but now I want to go home. Show me your stuff!" Jack smirked. Sam smiled back and began to connect the portable device to the gate.

After the MALP and the cart carrying their gear had disappeared into the blue pool, Sam closed the weatherproof case containing the portable DHD, and the four of them stepped through the gate. On the other side, they were welcomed by a cheerful applause from all SGC personal. In his Native American outfit, Jack made a strong impression on his fellow airmen and officers, as it said more than any word about the life he had lived in the last six months. Respectful silence fell in the room as SG-1 walked down the ramp and Jack presented General Hammond with young Thompson's ashes. Flags were raised, all the men and women saluted, and Taps played in the background.

* * *

First thing after Doc Fraiser had released him, Jack had showered in warm water, with soap and shampoo, shaved with shaving foam and a sharp razor, dressed with fresh clothes, and got himself a hair cut. He felt like a new man! They still had two hours before debriefing, so there was time for CAKE and COFFEE! What more could a man ask for... Well, he knew exactly what more he could ask for, and that's what he was on his way to do when he stepped into Sam's lab to ask her to join him for lunch. She looked up and smiled before she said yes, and now Jack was perfectly fine.

"Excellent!" he cried out happily.

"It's good to have you back Sir" she indulged. "We've missed you"

"Well, I missed you too Carter. You have no idea..."

They smiled knowingly to each other and made their way to the commissary.

After a long debriefing, General Hammond dismissed SG-1.

"You must be eager to go home Jack. Your report can wait until tomorrow" he said.

"Thank you Sir, but there's still something I need to do"

"And that would be?" the General asked.

"I must talk to Thompson's parents Sir. I made a promise"

"Of course. You can use the phone in my office"

"Thank you Sir. Has everything we came back with been decontaminated yet? There's some of his stuff in there too, that they should have"

"I will have it checked out while you make your call"

"Thank you Sir"

It was never an easy task to make that kind of phone call, but it was a part of the job as a leader in the Air Force, and more than that, Jack had made a promise to a friend and he intended to keep it. Thompson's parents were of course devastated to learn about their son's fate, but they were happy to know someone had been there for him, and to learn about his last months stranded on "an island in the Pacific", of his smiling last words to them, and that Jack had brought the ashes back with him. There would be a military ceremony, and Jack would give them the items Jerry had carved for them. When he dropped the phone back in its cradle, Jack felt that both Jerry's parents and himself had found peace at last.

* * *

 _TBC..._

 _Thanks to Schatze8210 for helping correcting my mistakes!_


	2. Caveman2

**Caveman**

 _Chapter 2_

"Colonel" said General Hammond as he entered the briefing room where SG-1 was sitting. "I just read your report about your time on P3X-984 -that's the number the planet has been assigned- and as I understand, you and Dr Thompson made a quite precise reconnoiter of both the area and the vegetation around the gate. Am I correct?"

"Yes Sir. Thompson made quite an extensive survey of all vegetation around. We had to know what we could eat, or use as medicine. Not that it helped him much..." Jack answered, lowering his eyes.

"And apart from these bugs, you didn't encounter any dangerous life form?" the General continued.

"Well Sir. The bugs aren't really dangerous. I got 2 bites myself, it burns for a few hours, kind of wasp sting feeling..."

"If they aren't dangerous, then why did Thompson die from them?" Daniel interrupted.

"Like wasps Daniel. One or two are OK. But if you trip and lay in the middle of their nest for half a day..."

"Ouch..." Daniel responded.

"So no threatening life forms, and weather conditions comparable to Earth's temperate zones?" Hammond continued.

"Pretty much the same for spring and summer yeah. At least at the gate location. I have no idea how it looks on the other side of the planet" Jack precised.

"I do not expect you to, Colonel. But what concerns us as a first priority is the area close to the gate for the time being. I would like you and your team to go back to the planet and take samples of each plant you identified together with Dr Thompson"

"We've already done that Sir. The samples are still in the cavern, all classed and sorted in six different packs, corresponding to the areas they are from. It would take us less than a couple of hours to go and get them, then I could tell you what I remember about those"

"That sounds very promising Colonel!" Hammond beamed. "SG-8 will accompany you and establish a temporary base on the planet to study these samples. I'd rather not have them back on Earth before we are sure they don't represent a danger"

"May I ask why you are all... might I say... excited about those plants Sir?" Jack wondered.

"As a matter of fact Colonel, it is not only the plants. I want all living forms on that planet listed and identified, and I want that temple studied too" said General Hammond with a broad smile. "If the requirements for security and food supplies are met, we could very well establish an alpha site on the planet!"

"That would be wonderful Sir!" Sam agreed.

"Yeah!" Daniel supplied.

"That's cool" Jack added casually. "As long as a permanent and functioning DHD is on the priority list, I'm in"

"Of course, Colonel, of course. Captain Carter and Sergeant Siler are working on it" Hammond informed. Jack cast a side glance at his 2IC, who smiled at him to confirm.

"Good" he acknowledged with a smirk. He had argued many times with Kinsey for the establishment of an alpha site off-world and if his last six months could help with that, he was delighted!

"Doctor Jackson, you and Dr Tanner from SG-7 will continue to study the data you brought back from that temple. I want to know who built it and why"

"Yes Sir" Daniel answered, looking forward to the exciting challenge.

When SG-1 returned from the cavern with the plant samples, they were surprised to find a full deployment at the gate. A temporary camp was being set up, as two SG-teams and a number of scientists would be working on a two weeks preliminary study of the planet. If the results were satisfactory, which O'Neill didn't doubt, the new alpha site would be a reality in the course of the following months.

Jack was on his way to Sam's lab when he met her down the hall.

"Going somewhere Carter?"

"As a matter of fact, I am, Sir. General Hammond asked me to the briefing room immediately"

"He did, did he?" wondered Jack, turning his heels to follow her. On their way, they met Daniel, who had also been called by Hammond.

"What does he want with you people?"

"No idea Jack. We'll know soon enough" Daniel answered.

As the three of them entered the large room, they found it already occupied by SG-7 and -11 as well as several scientists. Wondering what was happening, the 3 friends sat down in silence, waiting for Hammond to finish the phone call that kept him in his office.

"Colonel O'Neill, I see you are here too. Good" posed Hammond when he came in. "Airman, go and get Teal'c. We might as well have all members of SG-1 present. Captain Mansfield, you have the floor"

"Thank you Sir. SG-7 was on a geological mission on P3X-984 in the area Colonel O'Neill and Dr Thompson explored, Sir" the Captain informed, casting a glance at O'Neill. "We found very interesting rock formations that are very similar to what is found on Earth, which explains why the vegetation is comparable to that of Earth as well" he continued, still observing O'Neill who was obviously already bored. Teal'c entered, bowed silently to the room, and sat down with his team. Captain Mansfield continued, flipping to the next picture of his presentation.

"As you can see, these rocks present clear tracks of fossilized vegetation. These samples have been extracted from layers we dated back to about 7000 years ago" he said, quite excited. The other scientists were clearly interested too but Jack was growing more and more bored and wondered why he had to attend the meeting at all. Rocks were never his field and he never had any interest for them. When Daniel, eyes wide open, loudly interrupted "That's fascinating!", Jack felt that was the last straw! He had been on his way to Carter to avoid his paperwork, but now he felt a sudden longing for the damned paper stack. He was about to ask Hammond to dismiss him, but Mansfield continued.

"Isn't it Dr Jackson?! You can see that these plants are clearly of tropical nature, although we were miles away from the gate and the only tropical forest in the area. Which means the forest was much larger at the time, and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole planet was covered with tropical plants back then!"

"Why would you say that Captain?" asked Hammond.

"Well, General, the layers are so thick that one has to assume that type of vegetation has been dominant for several thousands of years on the planet. The change in vegetation, and thus, in climate, is quite recent"

"Do you have any idea of what could have caused the change?" Daniel asked.

"We don't have enough data for that yet Dr Jackson" the Captain regretfully answered.

"So what you are saying here is that with the climate as it is today, the vegetation cannot be tropical, right? Then how do you explain the tropical forest around the temple?" Jack pointed mischievously. He loved to stress the little detail that could throw scientists' theories down. From the Captain's look, he had succeeded.

"We... we don't exactly know that yet Sir... the nature of the soil and the irrigation are comparable between the tropical and the non tropical areas" But to Jack's disappointment, Sam came to the scientist's rescue.

"Sir, I would like to go back to the planet and make some energy readings around the temple. I suspect there could be a radiation of some sort that would favor this kind of vegetation"

"Good. SG-1 and -11, you have a go. You leave in two hours. SG-7, dismissed. I want your reports on my desk by tomorrow"

As they raised to leave the table, Sam could swear she heard the Colonel mumble "Spoilsport" under his breath...

* * *

Jack was tired. They had gone back and forth in the thick forest for hours now, him going first with a machete to open the way for Sam, who followed with her instruments. Teal'c was doing the same for Daniel about 30 yards away. They had gone from the temple and out to the edge, then back to the temple and out to the edge again following another line, and back again, he felt like his arms were about to fall off and he was certain he would be so stiff that he would not be able to use them for 2 days.

"Carter! I'm not going any further. The whole forest is ruined, we've hacked all the branches under 5 feet, I'm sure you have more than enough data by now!" he complained.

"Just one more ray Sir. When we reach the edge at the end of this line, there will be no doubt left" she beamed in her excitement. He could never say no when she had this Christmas look on her face.

"Promise?" he smiled.

"Promise Sir!" she giggled. Giggled!? He was nearly impatient to hear what her conclusion was now, it looked pretty exciting alright! He lifted his arm again, and lowered it on the next creeper. Five minutes later, he crossed the edge of the forest and turned to wait for his 2IC. She was so concentrated on her readings that she was just cute, he thought.

"Bingo!" she jumped happily when she crossed the edge too. 30 yards away, Daniel showed the same reaction. They rushed to each other.

"Did you have a drop too?" Sam yelled at him.

"Yeah! Just at the edge! On every single ray!" Daniel yelled eagerly back.

"What?" Jack wanted to know.

"Sir! This is incredible!" Sam explained, a little out of breath in her excitement. Her eyes were twinkling and her cheeks lightly colored, she was awesome... "We measured every line we took from the temple and out to the edge, it appears that the forest is perfectly circular, with the temple in its center. We have a weak but constant reading of energy in the forest, but it drops to zero at the edge"

"So what does that mean Carter?"

"Well Sir, it looks like the forest is in some sort of energy field. Probably a kind of dome which creates the conditions for the forest to exist"

"Really?" Jack wondered. "That's weird. What would this be for?"

"I have no idea Sir. But the fact is that it is exactly what this is"

"Do you think the energy is coming from the temple Captain Carter?" Teal'c inquired.

"It would be logical Teal'c, but the energy is constant in the forest, I think it would be stronger at the center if it radiated from the temple...?"

"That's true" Daniel supplied. "And we didn't find anything looking like a power source inside"

"OK, let's go back to the temple and you take readings from every stone in that thing. But first, we take a lunch break at the camp. They have mashed potatoes and beef on the menu!" Jack said with enthusiasm. That was the good thing with a temporary outpost: they grilled the meat on a real grill instead of canteen cooking. On the other hand, they didn't have cake, but it was worth it, and he could compensate with a chocolate bar anyway so that was no big deal. They made their way back, noticing the dark clouds the chilly autumn wind had pushed toward them.

"Let's hope it won't rain before we are finished here" Daniel noted.

"You are right Daniel, it could falsify the readings" Sam added innocently. She cast a glance at Jack, and yeah, he _was_ rolling his eyes.

A lunch and three cups of coffee later, SG-1 was back at the temple with powerful lamps to try and find any sign they could have missed the first time. They also tried to touch, press, and Sam was scanning every millimeter of the wall surface in an attempt to find a slight change in the energy readings. Very soon again, Jack felt boredom wash over him. At least he didn't have to cut through the forest, and he could massage his arms, but this was perhaps worse as he didn't have anything to do. He went out and tried to climb the pyramid, but there was nothing to see at the top, except for a little cavity. He felt suddenly dizzy. Missing his grip, he rolled all the way down.

"What was that?" Daniel asked from inside the temple.

"It appears to come from outside of the temple Daniel Jackson" Teal'c contributed.

"Where is the Colonel!?" Sam worried, hurrying outside.

"Aaawwwh... Ahh! Ohhw.. Over here.." Jack whimpered.

"Sir! Are you alright?!" Sam rushed to his side.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just some small bruises I think" he said, feeling his ribs and trying to get on his feet.

"What happened Jack?" Daniel wanted to know.

"I.. I climbed to the top, see if I could find the power source there. There's nothing by the way, looks like a chimney of some sort. But then, I just.. lost my balance" he said, embarrassed.

"Why?" Daniel insisted.

"Why! Why!?" Jack was irritated he would insist on that. But Sam and Teal'c were looking at him, clearly wanting to know more too. "Alright, I got dizzy, that's it. Kind of vertigo if you must know" he snapped.

"But Sir, you never had a problem with heights or dizziness in the past!" Sam questioned.

"No. Never" Jack admitted. At that, Sam started to climb the temple. "Hey! Where you going?"

"I want to know why you got dizzy up there" she said, continuing her ascension. As she reached the top, she looked inside the chimney and felt the vertigo too. As she was prepared, she just griped the side of the chimney and lowered herself so her head was not over it anymore. When her head had cleared up, she reached for her energy reader and placed it over the top. Then she let herself slide down, where Jack and Teal'c waited to catch her.

"So?" Jack wanted to know.

"You were right Sir. There is a chimney, and as I looked inside I got dizzy too. The energy readings up there went off scale. I am certain there is an energy dome over the tropical forest, and it is emitting from there" she said, pointing toward the top of the pyramid.

"Good job Captain!" Jack acknowledged. "Now what?"

"We have to find the energy source and the control panel. I want to know what this dome is for"

"Right" Jack said reluctantly "Let's go back in there"

And back in there they went. And Jack was bored again. He didn't enter the Air Force to make out with old stones, for crying out loud! He placed himself on the center tile and directed his light up the roof.

"You know, these people didn't understand the point with chimneys, did they? There's no opening from here. Santa can't come down!" He glanced at Sam and saw her repress a smile. Good.

"Jack, I know you are bored" came the annoyed voice of Daniel "but could you please concentrate on finding this power source?"

"Oh come on Daniel! We've looked everywhere! There's nothing here!" Before Daniel could answer and start a fight, Sam intervened.

"Sir, the power source HAS to be somewhere here. The readings were very clear. Can you give us one more hour? Sir?" she added with a begging smile.

"Alright alright" Jack complied. "One hour, then we go back!"

"Thank you Sir" Sam smiled again. "I don't understand where this power source could be hidden" she said, resuming her readings.

"Power source, power source, where are you?" Jack said, trying to think like a temple builder.

Suddenly, the inside of the temple irradiated a warm blue light which made SG-1 jump away from the walls.

"What's that?" Daniel wondered.

"O'Neill!?" Teal'c noticed, alarmed. Jack was gone.

Turning to the spot where he had been standing, the three members of SG-1 noticed the central tile moving silently back to place.

"There!" they yelled, rushing to the tile to try and keep it open. But they came too late.

"Jack!"

"Sir!"

"O'Neill!"

They all shouted at the stone floor, then shut up to try and listen for an answer. Very faint, they heard:

"Down there! I'm down there!"

"Where is that?" Daniel shouted back.

"Under the temple!"

"Sir! Can you come back?"

"No!" said the faint but clearly irritated and somehow panicked answer. The radio didn't work between Jack and the others for some reason, so they had to yell to hear each other.

"What did you do? Did you touch something?"

"No!" Jack yelled again.

"Jack! You must have done something!" Daniel insisted.

"I didn't do anything! I was standing still, thinking about that power source!" said Jack, confused.

"The Jaffa tell legends about a people who disappeared long ago. They had very powerful minds and their technology was mind activated" Teal'c informed with his deep, calm voice. "Could O'Neill have activated a mechanism with his mind?"

"That's a good idea Teal'c" Sam approved. "Sir! You have to concentrate on coming up in this room"

"What?" said the faint answer.

"Hum.. Daniel, I think my voice isn't deep enough to reach through the stone. You try"

"Jack! Stand on the same spot and concentrate on coming up here"

"What?"

"Concentrate Jack! Come up here!"

After a few seconds, the tile opened and Jack rose from the floor.

"That's... Wow..." said Daniel astonished.

"Sir! Good to have you back! Where have you been?"

Jack was mesmerized. He was looking around and didn't understand what had just happened.

"I don't know! One minute I was there, the next I am here! What happened?!"

"Sir, Teal'c thinks the technology could be mind activated. When you stood here and concentrated on the power source, you were sent to it. Or at least, I assume you were? What did you see?"

"Yeah you right, I was... It's full of crystals and doohickeys down there, but..."

"I knew it! I knew it!" Daniel jumped in excitement.

"Sir, do you mind?" asked Sam, pushing Jack gently away from the tile and standing there herself. The three men looked at her while she was concentrating, preparing themselves to see her disappear, but nothing happened.

"How did you do it Sir?" she asked, frustrated.

"Why, I don't know! I just thought about finding the power source!"

"Obviously it's not working for me..." Sam stepped out, disappointed. "Teal'c, you try"

The big Jaffa stood on the tile and concentrated. Nothing.

"Try deep concentration, like you do when you kelno'reem!" suggested Daniel. It did not help.

"Perhaps because I am a Jaffa. You should try, Daniel Jackson" Teal'c conceded after a while. The archaeologist stepped eagerly in Teal'c's place and concentrated.

"I don't get it" Daniel dropped irritated. "None of us seems to be able to activate this thing. Jack! Try it again will you?" Jack was not eager to experience that thing again, although he obliged. He stepped on the tile, closed his eyes and concentrated. The light in the room got slightly more intense and he sank into the floor. The three other members of SG-1 just gaped, speechless, then he rose up again..

"How..?! Why...?!" Daniel stammered.

"I dunno! You tell me!" Jack protested. It took a few minutes before they all came back to their spirits.

"It appears O'Neill has an ability we don't possess" Teal'c stressed, always the pragmatic.

"That's disturbing" Daniel noted, earning a murderous glance from Jack.

"I agree, it's strange, but these are the facts. Sir, as you are the only one who can access to the power source, you have to make the observations and records yourself. I would like you to take Daniel's camera down, film all you see, then film the energy reader as you slowly swipe the devices you see. Could you do that Sir?" Sam said with so much confidence in her eyes that Jack didn't even think about refusing her.

"Yeah sure" he said, taking the instruments she handed him. Then he sank through the floor and the others waited anxiously. Ten minutes later, he was back, and they all left to the camp, chatting about Jack's "power" and all the implications that could have regarding the planet's technology and the people who built the temple...

They reported to Major Ferretti who was responsible for the camp, then they walked to the gate. Sam reached for the portable DHD when Jack suddenly stopped her.

"Wait a minute. I want to try something" he said. Then he closed his eyes and appeared to enter a deep state of meditation. The gate began to spin and all the seven chevrons locked at an incredible speed. The three other members of SG-1 were again speechless, their eyes going from their leader to the gate and back. When the usual kawoosh sounded, Jack seemed to wake up. He turned rather pale, clenched his jaws, sent the IDC and, resolutely, climbed the steps to the gate. The others followed without a word, casting concerned looks to each other.

On the other side, General Hammond was waiting for his best team. When he saw Colonel O'Neill emerge from the pool, he was eager to hear what news they had for him.

"Colonel! How was the mission?" he asked, smiling.

O'Neill walked stiffly down the ramp while his companions stepped in and the wormhole collapsed. The three of them walked slowly down. The General's smile faded at the Colonel's strain and hard features. Jack stopped a brief instant in front of his CO, he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but no sound came out. His hard eyes bored through the General's soul, and he left the gate room.

"What...?" the General uttered, confused. His eyes were switching between the stiff frame of his 2IC disappearing through the door, and the rest of his team still on the ramp, clearly uneasy.

"What the hell has happened?" Hammond demanded, regaining control.

"It's a long story Sir" Sam answered.

"What's it all about Captain?" The General required an explanation at once. While Sam and Daniel were reporting the big lines, Teal'c discretely left the room.

As he reached the locker room, he heard loud sounds from the lockers' metallic doors. He stepped in and stood just inside as the door closed itself shut. He observed O'Neill as he was undressing and throwing his clothes down in a rage, punching the lockers with the flat of his hands now and then. As he sat down to remove his socks, he got a glimpse of Teal'c standing there. Keeping his back to him, he snapped:

"What!?"

"You could not have known O'Neill"

"I had the power to dial that gate all the time and I didn't know it! Six months Teal'c! Six months!"

"There was no way for you to know that you had this power O'Neill"

"Thompson would still be alive if I had found out!"

"You are not responsible O'Neill. This ability was completely unknown to you at the time"

"He would still be alive Teal'c"

Jack jumped to his feet and disappeared in one of the shower cubicles. He heard Teal'c leaving, then he turned the water on and let it fall down on him. Resting his forehead against the cool tiles, he cried.

* * *

Daniel had been digging in every book of his office and used countless hours on archaeological websites to try and find references to the people Teal'c had mentioned. He was so frustrated at the total lack of results that he was turning frantic and was definitely sleep deprived. The closest he could come to a mind controlled culture was Atlantis, but there was close to nothing about them when it came to original documents.

Meanwhile, Sam has been analyzing the data Jack had collected in the control room of the temple. She came to the conclusion that most of the many crystals in place were depleted. Creating a simulation program, she had discovered that if the crystals were functional, they would provide energy enough for the temple to emit a dome over half of the planet. The deployment of a satellite in the planet's orbit had confirmed her theory that they would find another temple on the opposite side, as she figured that two of them would be sufficient to shield the planet completely. Her findings were confirming Captain Mansfield's observations and his theory that the planet was once covered with tropical forests. However, the satellite had not shown any other construction on the planet, and did not detect life concentration indicating settlements, other than the temporary camp SGC had established. The planet was definitely uninhabited, which indicated that the people who had built the temples had left or become extinct, and although these results were interesting, they did not explain why these people would have used so much energy to create the domes.

Another person at the SGC was growing frustrated with the mysteries P3X-984 provided. Doctor Fraiser had run all the tests she could think of, and found nothing to explain Colonel O'Neill's unique ability to activate the gate and the temple. There HAD to be something different with him! But scanners, brain activity patterns, genetic readings, blood and marrow samples, etc etc, showed nothing different from random other men. There were of course the usual variations that made individuals unique, but she couldn't make herself to believe that those would be enough to explain Colonel O'Neill's ability. As long as he was the only one able to activate the devices, she would not have the chance to compare and find what factor was required to do so, and she did not believe his ability could come from the six months he had been on the planet, as his physiology was unchanged. The man himself was not helping, he was definitely not enjoying the attention and had been most unpleasant at the beginning of the tests, despite her authority. She had had no choice but to ask for General Hammond's help, who had ordered the Colonel to cooperate. Since then, he had been reluctant but at least, he was not aggressive anymore.

The mood at the SGC was tense as the frustration was growing, and General Hammond ordered both SG-1 and Janet Fraiser to take some down time. Happy to have some time to blame himself without anyone to attempt convincing him that he was wrong to, Jack was sitting on his deck with a 6-pack, turning absent minded his sausages on the grill while he contemplated wild geese calling each other to keep their V-formation on their way to warmer parts of the country, in anticipation of the upcoming winter. As he was washing down his second hot dog with a beer, he heard the gravel screech in his driveway and rolled his eyes. Daniel and a new pep talk! he thought, annoyed. He decided not to answer the door, and remained seated, waiting for Daniel to get the clue and leave.

"Hi Sir!" said Sam's voice in his back. He jumped and turned to face Sam, followed by the rest of his team. "You didn't answer the door" she said, slightly embarrassed to intrude in his back yard. "We brought pizzas and a movie" she added, attempting to sound cheerful.

"I didn't answer the door for a reason, Carter" he snapped, not in the mood for being cheered up. She cringed and he felt bad for it. It was not her fault that he had failed to save Thompson. The two other men walked closer to her as to give her support. Should he keep being his bad ass self to make them leave, or should he give in, enjoy a team evening, and quit focusing on his sorry ass? He sighted and decided for the last one.

"Beer?" he offered. The tension left and trying smiles appeared on every one's face. The self-invited guests found themselves a seat, pizza boxes were opened and Jack went in to get some more beer. Sam followed to get paper napkins and they met in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Carter" he said.

"For what Sir?"

"For snapping at you out there. My bad humor had nothing to do with you" he explained, lowering his eyes. She didn't answer, but put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"I understand. There's no need for apologies Sir" she smiled. Confused by her unexpected gesture, he kept his eyes on her without a word. She took a couple of steps back, reached for the napkins and was on her way to leave the kitchen when he finally said: "Thanks"

She turned and smiled, waiting for him. He smiled back and followed her out. After the pizzas, they gathered inside to see the Lord of the Ring. The movie was old, an animated classic from 1978, just as Jack liked them, and Teal'c was fascinated by a new fantasy story of the Taur'i. Daniel however, doze in the middle of the show. He had definitely had too little sleep during the week.

"I've seen that movie many times with Charlie" Jack said softly. "He used to love it"

"Yeah?" Sam didn't know how to respond. It was so seldom Jack mentioned his son.

"Yeah. We had even begun to read the book together" Jack added, his eyes leaving the screen to rest on her. He was smiling, it was a good memory, and she smiled back.

"Thanks" he added. She understood, and reached to squeeze his hand. He squeezed hers back, and they returned their attention to the movie.

As the credits were rolling on the screen, Teal'c came out of the trance TV-watching always seemed to put him in. Jack pressed the rewind button on the remote and switched the main light on. Sam stretched her legs, and Daniel came around as the ambiance in the room was changing.

"This movie was fascinating" Teal'c commented. "The Elf queen Galadriel is very similar to the powerful minded people in the Jaffa legend"

"You mean, the people who could have built the temples on P3X-984?" Sam asked with interest.

"Yes Captain Carter. According to the legend, these people lived in deep symbiosis with their natural environment, similarly to the Nox. However they communicated in each other's mind. They also had the ability to move objects by the sole power of their minds, but they did not usually do so to build habitations of stones. It is believed that the stones required too much energy to be formed and lifted by the sole power of the mind, therefore these people used to live in huts of lighter materials. The legends tell of wooden habitations plaited between trees, high above the ground level"

"Like the Ewoks?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"I am not familiar with these people Daniel Jackson" Teal'c answered with his usual impassibility.

"The Ewoks? Star Wars? You haven't seen Star Wars Teal'c?" Daniel spouted, shocked.

"I have not, Daniel Jackson" Teal'c answered, mildly offended.

"Okaaaaaaaaaay! Oh you really have to see it Teal'c! You'll love it I'm sure!" Daniel offered, eager to share this piece of culture with his alien friend. Teal'c bowed lightly in acceptance.

"More beer?" dropped Jack in an attempt to change the subject. He was not willing to talk about the planet nor the mind freaks that lived on it some thousands years ago, now that he had managed to set his own mind on something else. "I also got ice cream!" he tempted.

He produced a box of cones, each of his friends helping themselves while he kept on with his beer. The conversation had gone from the Ewoks to Luke Skywalker and C3PO, to Han Solo and Chewbacca. The subjects were safe enough and Jack relaxed in the sofa, enjoying Daniel's description of the famous personages and Teal'c's studious concentration. Sam was licking her cone dutifully, listening to the conversation without participating: Daniel managed very well on his own. Jack was looking while she licked delicately at the cream attempting to drip along the side of her cone. With the tip of her tongue, she followed the drop's path back up to the edge, and licked around the ice so she would catch any potential coming drop. In his wicked mind, Jack imagined she was doing the same in a completely different setting, and his throat went dry as his groin reacted forcefully. She closed her lips on the top of the ice and sucked lightly, at which Jack nearly let a groan escape. He closed his eyes to regain control of himself, and as he opened them again, he met Sam's intense gaze on him. He blushed furiously, and while she lowered her eyes in embarrassment, he couldn't help but notice that she was turning bright red too. God! She knew! He could have slapped himself! He jumped on his feet and offered casually to go and make some coffee. Not waiting for any answer, he hasted to the kitchen. Resting his forehead on a cupboard to catch his breath and chase the lust from his mind, he reached for the coffee machine with a shivering hand and started filling the water compartment. Slowly, he found the coffee and filled the filter. He just hoped she would have eaten her ice cream up before he returned. If he would return. He was not sure he could face her again this evening. CO-O'Neill was giving Wicked-O'Neill an earful in his head: "Shame on you! She is you 2IC!" "Yeah, so what? She is beautiful and damn hot!" "What were you thinking about!?" "Oh! You know very well what I was thinking about!" "Yeah! Exactly! You are not allowed to do that!" "I'm not allowed to _do_ it but I was only fantasying. There's no regulations about that is it?" "Well... it should be. But you were an idiot to do it so she could make you out." "Yeah. _That_ was stupid." both O'Neills agreed with themselves. In the living room, 2IC-Carter was doing the same with Wicked-Carter, and they both came to the same conclusion.

* * *

SG-7 and -11 had delivered positive mission reports about living forms and geological findings, the planet seemed to be safe and the Pentagon had given the green light to establish a temporary alpha site there. The SGC was frantically engaged in that project, as materials, machines and supplies were lowered to the gate room through Cheyenne mountain's silo, and sent through the gate to the alpha site.

At first, Jack had been considered for the post of new commander of the alpha site, but the Joined Chiefs had decided against it, judging that he was better used as leader of SG-1 for the time being. Major Castleman from SG-3 was appointed instead and took several teams with him, as well as Sgt Siler to help installing the facilities' large computer park. Everyone was very excited by the project, although the remaining SGC personal resumed their usual work, with the usual most improbable incidents. During their last mission on PX3-989, SG-1 had been duplicated and replaced by androids. SG-6 had been attacked by carnivorous plants. SG-10 contracted an alien disease and had to be confined in isolation for 3 weeks.

Between missions, Sam continued to analyze the data collected by Jack in the temple. She hoped they could study and use the technology for other purposes, especially if she could convert the energy from the dome to build shields that would protect the planet against attacks from mother ships. They assumed that the temples' crystals had depleted, and as the domes regressed, the warm and stable climate had been replaced by a harsher one, causing a dramatic change in the vegetation. If the people had, as Teal'c had explained, a symbiotic relationship with their habitat, the loss of the tropical forest would have been their doom. Daniel assumed that the gate had been left by the Ancients, as everywhere else, but the temples didn't fit. Ancients would have left writings on the walls. Teal'c's recalling of Jaffa legends didn't help either, as the people he was telling about did not build with stones. It was annoying to not be able to loose this mystery!

"Sir, are you sure you filmed everywhere in the basement of the temple?" Sam insisted.

"Yes I'm sure Captain!" Jack answered annoyed. She had asked him that question at least 10 times since they had come back from the planet. "You'll have to trust me on that ya know!" he added with a smirk. He knew she didn't like to be unable to go there herself, and for that matter he would gladly have given her his place. Why he was the only one to manage that was beyond everyone's comprehension, which added to the mystery of the temple. It had been suggested that his long exposure to the planet's atmosphere, air, water or nutriments could be responsible for that, but Fraiser had found nothing to sustain the theory. The teams stationed on the alpha site were regularly making attempts to activate the gate with their minds, without success. Sam and Daniel wanted very much to go and see the other temple, but without a ship it was impossible, the planet being far too big to travel there by foot, and they could not send any large vehicle over through the gate.

"Sir, I'd like to try something" Sam proposed. "What if there was a beam or teletransport device from one temple to the other?"

"And what makes you think there could be such a thing as a teletransporter on that planet Carter?" Jack sarcastically asked. Man! He could have done without all the fuss! Why didn't they find someone else to play with?!

"She got a point Jack!" Daniel intervened. "Look! Everything on this planet is mind activated, so if the temples are linked together, it makes sense that those who managed the devices and took care of the domes would want to be able to travel easily from one to the other!"

Jack rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to snap something back but General Hammond was faster.

"That's very possible Doctor Jackson. Colonel, I know you are not keen on this, but I want you and your team to test everything to find out what we can about these temples. Being able to protect a whole planet with a dome is certainly an alien technology we would like to acquire. SG-1, you leave in one hour. Dismissed"

His mouth still opened, the words useless now, Jack saw Hammond raise from his chair to go back to his office, and he didn't miss the smile Sam and Daniel exchanged. Disgusted, he threw himself back in his seat, passing his hands on his face. Why the hell did he have to be the only one to do this thing?


	3. Caveman3

**_Thank you for following this story! I had several questions about a following chapter, so I modified the end of the chapter 2 to fit with a chapter 3. Hope you like it!_**

* * *

 **Caveman**

 _Chapter 3_

It had been several weeks since they last were on the planet, and it was now clear that winter was settling in. It was a strange feeling to step in the warm and humid tropical forest under the dome: the wind didn't blow so hard, the cold stayed out, and the humidity level was almost suffocating.

"Hey, did you notice how fast the forest has regenerated?" Jack pointed. "Last time that place was completely ruined after we cut through for your measurements, but now it's grown again!"

"You are right Sir! That's amazing!" Sam marveled as they approached the temple.

"The temple's still the same though. You'd think the creepers would cover it too. Any explanation Daniel? Carter?"

"Well, no Sir. It could have been explained by a strong radiation coming from the temple itself, but as we know, the energy readings are constant on ground level"

"That doesn't make sense Sam! Could we have missed something? Maybe some kind of energy we can't register?" Daniel offered.

"It's always possible Daniel but I really doubt it" answered Sam with a pout on her face. Jack could not refrain a smirk to appear on his. She was cute when she was confused!

"I believe the stones used to build this temple are not originated from that planet, Daniel Jackson. It appears to be of the same material as the Ancients usually built their structures with. It is extremely probable that the vegetation of this planet does not enjoy the composition of this particular material to proliferate on" Teal'c mentioned.

"Good point Teal'c!" Daniel answered eagerly. "Why didn't I notice that before! That temple _is_ of typical Ancient design! Except that there is no writings on it of course but the material is sure the same dark gray as any other Ancient monument!"

"Way to go Teal'c, you're right.. I've not seen this kind of stones anywhere else in the area. They're all yellow or red..." Jack acknowledged. The Jaffa bowed his head modestly without a word. SG-1 entered the little pyramid and went straight to the tile in the middle of the floor.

"Nothing's changed here" Jack noticed.

"Good. Sir, this is what I would like you to do: try to concentrate on the temple on the other side of the planet, and if... when you manage to go there, come back at once to let us know it worked. Could you do that for me, Sir?" Sam asked with her big blue eyes fixed on him.

"Anything Carter" he answered smartly. He positioned himself on the tile and focused on what she had asked him to do. The walls of the room began to glow faintly, like they couldn't really decide if they should or should not light up. Jack opened his eyes, moved his feet to get a better balance, and closed his eyes again for a new attempt. The other members of SG-1 were watching closely at him, holding their breath in expectation. The walls began to glow harder and suddenly the whole room was flashing with blue light. Jack was gone.

* * *

He opened his eyes again.

"Nope. Not working!" he said. Then, noticing the others weren't there, he called: "Carter? Teal'c?! Hey! Daniel! Where have you gone?" He began to walk toward the entrance but a violent headache took him by surprise. He felt like he was in a room full of people all taking at the same time. He covered his ears with his hands and pressed as much as he could but the noise didn't go, it was like it was inside his head!

"Stop that! Shut up!" he yelled. But there was no one in the room. He fled outside, hoping to find his team and the source of that noise but the noise only went louder. It was too much for his brain to process. He just had the time to see some lights moving above the ground in the forest before all went black and he collapsed.

When he woke up, he was in some sort of children hut. There was a little table and tiny chairs, a short bed, and small robes hanging on the wall. He was laying on dry grass on the floor, as he was far too big to fit in the bed. His weapons, shades, watch, and vest had been taken from him but he was not restrained and the door stood open. His head was still aching, as he still heard the babble of voices, but it was somehow attenuated now. From his place on the floor, he could see the trees canopy through the door and windows' openings, like he was high above the ground. He struggled to stand up, hitting his head in the roof and yearning for an aspirin or two. Blinking to clear his sight, he stumbled to the low door and was amazed by what he saw. He was REALLY high up in the trees! At his feet, a maze of hanging bridges was connecting numerous huts together. The huts were of a strange design, roundish and covered with bark, creepers making them difficult to spot. From his observation spot, Jack could see a few bright lights moving on the ground and on one of the bridges under him. His ears only registered birds and wind in the leaves, but in his head, the many voices were still invading and confusing him. He searched for a way to climb down. It looked like there was no ladder anywhere, but the bridges were leading to the lower levels so he began to make his way on them, worry that they would not stand his weight.

He had not been interrupted on his way down, but the hubbub in his head was getting louder as he climbed down, and as he had come half way, he felt that he could not take more, his sight was blurring. He had to sit down before he would pass out and break his neck by tipping over one of the bridges' sides. Sweating heavily and feeling nauseous, he lowered himself against the wall of a hut, patting his pocket to check if, by any chance, he would have an aspirin in there. When he did not find any, he rested his head against the wall, only to see one of the lights he had noticed on the ground coming his way over the bridge facing him. It was not actually a light, but a little person emitting that blue light which was crowning the whole body like an aura. Jack was amazed to see that the tiny personage seemed to float in the air, about one foot above the bridge, and at that point Jack wondered if he was dead, facing some kind of angel... The angel had long hair, wore robes and had fine features but he was clearly a male. The chaos in Jack's head was covered by a clear voice which, amazingly enough, seemed to come from the angel although his ears didn't register any sound coming from its direction. Wincing, Jack seized his ears in an useless attempt to block the noise out, and again, he passed out.

* * *

"Why doesn't he come back?!" Daniel asked for the tenth time. "He said he would come back at once!"

"We must assume that he is prevented to do so, Daniel Jackson" Teal'c observed pragmatically.

"Yes but why?! There was no indication of settlements there so he couldn't have been captured. Maybe he's hurt?"

"Oh my god, I hope not!" Sam worried. She blamed herself for having sent him away on his own. It had seemed so simple: he would just go there and back, as he had done when he had visited the control room under the temple. But she could now see how many flaws her plan had: they didn't know if he had made it to the other temple, they had no mean of knowing if he was injured, prisoner, or stranded. Even if he had made it to the other temple, it was possible that the energy there was too depleted for him to be sent back. And they had no way to reach him. Even radio contact was out of the question as he was too far away if he had reached the other side of the planet. That is, _if_ he actually went there. As far as they knew, he could be anywhere. He could even be under their feet in the control room of the temple, unconscious, and they wouldn't know it! She couldn't bear not to know.

"Teal'c, could you stay here and wait for Colonel O'Neill? I want to go back to the camp with Daniel and check the satellite's readings. Maybe we can see if he has arrived on the other side" Teal'c bowed in agreement and took his position at the entrance of the temple while Sam and Daniel hurried back to the camp.

"Major Mansfield, I need the most recent readings from the satellite on the back side of the planet. Colonel O'Neill did not return" Sam demanded as soon as they arrived in the computer facilities. The crew immediately made the necessary adjustments for the satellite to point toward the little temple. After zooming as close as they could, Sam and Lieutenant Stetson found a little red spot on the screen, which had not been there before.

"I assume this could be Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter. These readings detect metallic structures, this is a tiny spot but his weapons would be enough to show on that scale"

"Then why does he not return?" Sam whispered, even more worried now that she had the proof that he had reached his objective. "Have you tried IR readings?"

"No Ma'am. We know there's animal life on the planet, so IR would not give us any information about the source of the heat we would detect" the Lieutenant answered.

"Do it anyway" Sam ordered.

The Lieutenant did as she was told and a new map appeared on the screen, presenting many more red spots this time. She zoomed to the scale they had used for the metal detection but they still had many spots visible.

"Can you superpose both maps?" Sam asked. Daniel left his computer to join them, followed by Mansfield. When Sam used this tone, it meant she probably had something.

"Here you are Ma'am. The metal is now showed by a blue spot"

Silent fell around he screen. The blue spot was at the temple, but there was no red spot nearby, which meant that Colonel O'Neill didn't have his weapons with him. What could have happened?!

"Look" Daniel said. "There are seven red spots around the temple, I'd say they are definitely inside the dome, if we assume both domes are about the same size. They are not really big, though. There is only one big spot, here"

"Do you think it could be Colonel O'Neill?" Major Mansfield asked.

"Yeah, it would be logical to assume it is" Daniel speculated.

"But, what are the other spots then?" Sam wanted to know.

"Animals?" Mansfield suggested.

"Yeah, could be... Something smaller than Jack anyway" Daniel said. "What I find very strange is that they are so close to him... You sure there is no threatening wildlife on this planet?"

"Oh my god!" Sam said, already imagining lions or wolves chasing Jack in the forest.

"We know there isn't any on this part of the planet, as Colonel O'Neill reported. But we have no idea of what lives on the other side. The only thing we know for sure is that there is no settlements made of metal, no large construction of stones except for the temple, and no trace of large living animals, if we go by the size of this IR spots" Mansfield informed.

"Turn the camera on Lieutenant." Sam ordered. The screen changed again, showing a picture of the forest surrounding the temple. It was so dense that they hardly could see the top of the temple, hadn't it be for the faint orange light coming from the chimney emitting the dome. Superposing the picture and the IR readings, they could position Jack and the other living beings, but due to the dense vegetation they saw nothing more. Sam was completely frustrated now. She could not think of anything else they could do to assess Jack's state at that point.

"Alright" Daniel said. "I'll radio Teal'c to let him know what we have"

"The radio! Daniel, you are a genius!" Sam cried. Astonished by her statement, Daniel was looking at her, waiting for an explanation. "We can use the satellite as a relay to radio Colonel O'Neill!" she explained.

"Good!" Daniel smiled. "Let's try that!"

Lieutenant Stetson entered the parameters to relay Sam's radio signal through the satellite and gave her the green light.

"This is Captain Carter. Colonel O'Neill can you hear me?." Sam tried. "Colonel O'Neill, this is Captain Carter! Please respond!" But no answer came.

"We have to assume that his radio is in the temple with the rest of his weapons. He can't hear you" Mansfield stated in an all too military tone for Sam's taste. How could he remain so calm!?

"Daniel, signal Teal'c. We have to report to General Hammond" she said, leaving the facility.

* * *

As he woke up for the second time, Jack found himself back in his children hut. Or maybe it was no children hut. The angel-man had been about half his height, so perhaps it was the standard size for their huts. He was still free of his movements, so Jack assumed that the people were not hostile. He found a tray with a couple of round, flat breads and a bowl of fresh fruits on the floor at his side. He sat up and began to eat, as he realized he was actually hungry, although still nauseous from the never ending chaos in his head.

"I need to go back to the temple" he thought. "The guys must be worried by now.. How long have I been out?" He had no way of knowing the time as his watch was missing, but judging by his body's needs and the falling evening, he assumed it had been several hours. Considering that he was on the back side of the planet, and that it was morning at the gate, it would only be logical that it was evening here, but with the angle of the planet's inclination, he should expect this part to be in the beginning of the summer. As he was in the dome, the climate was tropical anyway so he could not test his theory, but if he was right, then the night should fall late in the evening. Now how late would it be? 10? 11? With that constant headache, he did not really feel fit for astronomical considerations... He just knew he should be back, and that no one would come for him before a Tok'ra ship was available in this part of the galaxy. That was a problem... The noise had been louder as he went down, and he had obviously passed out again because of it. Even if he somehow managed to creep back to the temple, his head was too full and he would never manage to concentrate hard enough to activate the teletransport or whatever it was his mind commanded. He was there in his pondering when the light changed in the hut, a bright light appearing at the door.

"Be greeted, Ancient friend" a voice said clear and loud in Jack's head. He winced in pain, grabbing his temples and throwing himself down on his bed.

"Geez! Stop it!" he whined. The voice hesitated, then it came again, much softer this time, which was still painful but bearable.

"I apologize. I can not communicate with you by any other mean"

"What you mean?!" Jack complained, trying to sit back up.

"I can not produce the vibrations you make with your throat, nor can I decipher them. I can only communicate with your mind" the voice said. Jack observed the being floating in the air in front of him. It didn't seem to have ears, and it didn't move its lips to talk. What was this guy?!

"I am Eolan, of the Alveonan people. Don't you know us?" the voice said again. Jack realized Eolan had answered the question he had in his mind before he could speak it aloud. He was immediately alert. He had no intention to let the guy know more than he should!

"I can not read your mind if you don't allow me to. Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm"

"How do you know what I say if you cannot hear me?!"

"You form your words in your mind before you vibrate them in your throat, therefore I can receive them through your mind, Ancient friend"

"Why do you call me ancient friend? I don't think we've met before..." Jack wondered.

"Are you not of the Ancient?"

"Er... no..."

"Then how did you come here? I clearly sense the Ancients in you"

"What you mean you sense the ancient in me? I'm not _that_ old! And I came here through the temple"

"One has to be Alveonan or Ancient to activate the temple's transporter. How could you do this if you were not an Ancient?"

"You tell me!" a confused Jack wanted to know. "I'm human, from Earth."

"Earth?"

"Tau'ri."

"The Tau'ri was a planet of the Ancients. You must be of Ancient descent. This is how you could master the temple" Eolan posed.

"Well... that would explain a few things..." Jack conceded. "What's that noise anyway? It's..." he paused, wincing. "painful!"

"I see. You hear my brothers and sisters' minds. It would be confusing. You have to shut them out of your own mind and choose what you want to receive, or your mind will get lost in the confusion of so many voices"

"Yeah. I noticed. How do I do that?" Jack answered with a hint of sarcasm.

"I fear your mind is chaos. As you use the vibrations of your throat to communicate, you have not learned to discipline your mind. The Alveonans are bound to organize their minds so that only what we wish to communicate is available, while we can shut other parts, and choose who we listen to. I'm not certain how to teach this to you, as this is something small children learn naturally at a very young age"

"Yeah well, see, that's a problem! I'm far past that very young age, and my brain's about to fry here!"

"Allow me to ask the advice of my sister" Eolan said, reaching his forehead with both hands. What Jack had thought to be a piece of jewelry there, began to glow under Eolan's hands as he looked like he was in a deep meditation. Then, he lowered his hands and the blue stone ceased to glow.

"My sister will send help for you" he said. After a few instants, a kind of crown floated in from outside and stopped in front of them. It was a circle of intertwined dark vines and some other plants Jack couldn't identify. The twigs were swirling around different gems to hold them in place, and the result was both delicate and beautiful.

"Please, place this on your head, it should help you keep undesired voices out of your mind"

"You must be kidding, right?" Jack smiled. That crown would make him look like some god from the Greek mythology! But Eolan looked very serious, so he complied, and the chaotic sounds in his head were immediately reduced to a faint whisper, which he could live with.

"Good! That helps, thanks" he said.

"I am relieved that you are not in pain anymore. Would you tell me how you name yourself?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Jack" Eolan frown a little before he tried to get familiar with the name.

"Really... This is a very harsh name... Is it truly what you are called?" Eolan wondered.

"Yep. Jack O'Neill. That's me" Jack posed.

"Would it be suitable if I called you O'Neill? This name is much softer"

"Suit yourself!" Jack agreed. He had never reflected about that, but it was fine with him so, whatever! He wondered, however, if that would be the reason why aliens always called him by his last name...

* * *

"Alright. So, tell me.. Eolan? How many of you are there? I thought that planet was uninhabited" Jack wanted to know.

"There is only a few of us left. We live close to the temple, we can not survive outside the dome. We need the Silva to live"

"The Silva? You mean, the tropical forest?"

"Yes. The climate outside is too harsh for the Silva and for us. But the dome has regressed greatly during the last hundreds of years, and only a few of us have survived" Eolan explained.

"Why didn't you repair it then?"

"Repair? I do not understand this word"

"Repair? Find what is wrong and fix it" Eolan seemed to be confused by the concept, which surprised Jack as it was simple enough to understand.

"We do not... repair? How do you... fix?"

"Well, obviously the crystals of the temple are depleted so you need to change them to keep the dome working"

"How do you know this thing? How do you... change...?"

"Carter found out about it. Er... she is a.. woman of my team... she's _very_ smart. She can fix anything!" said Jack proudly. But he realized Eolan's people must be a little fatalistic, and showed little ability to evolution and adaptability. "So when you got a problem, you folk just sit there and wait?"

"It is the time of the Alveonan"

"Yeah right. You'll just let it happen without lifting a finger?"

"It is our way. We follow the Silva" Eolan posed.

"OK, well, that's not my people's way. If something goes wrong, we look for solutions, we fight. Anyway, how is it that you have a temple to suit your needs if you don't do the adaptation-and-repair-thing?"

"The Ancients gave the temples to us. They helped us find this planet when our world was destroyed by Phaeton, and they built the temples to make the planet favorable to Silva. This was a long time ago" Eolan recalled.

"Phaeton... That sounds familiar..?"

"He was the one who drove the sun too close to our planet, and burnt it down. Silva could not survive it. The Ancients provided this for us"

"Good guys, the Ancients! Listen, I could get Carter to help you folks, but I have to return to my team first. And she can not activate the temple or anything, only me. Why am I the only one to do that?"

"You must be the only one of your people from Ancient descent. Only my people and the Ancient can use the Ancient technology"

"OK. Would that mean that you can come with me then?"

"I could. But the dome on the other side is much smaller than this one. We could not live there very long"

"Er... no, I suppose not. My people has established a camp there anyway so it would be difficult. But you know, you could come just to say hello and explain to Carter what your problem is! No need to step out of the dome!" Jack offered cheerfully.

"I do not understand this word, O'Neill" Eolan asked confused.

"Which one? Oh yeah. You folk don't have problems of course. That's a concept... But she could fix it anyway" he insisted.

"Your intentions are pure O'Neill. I will meet this Carter. This is however a harsh name too. Do all your people have such names?" Eolan complained.

"You think Carter's harsh? How about Sam, then?"

"This is much better, thank you O'Neill. She is your mate" the Alveonan stated.

"What!? No! Why would you say such a thing!?" Jack protested.

"I did not mean to offend you O'Neill. Your mind colors with many feelings when you speak of her, which is why I was mistaken to think she was your mate. Please accept my apologies"

"Yeah... Well... T's OK..." Jack mumbled. Damn! The guy could read his feelings too! Better be careful then... "How do I get down from here? I need to go back now, my team certainly worries about me"

"I will guide you O'Neill" Eolan said, leading the way on the hanging bridges.

"You know... You don't actually... walk.. do you? So why don't you just... fly down?" the Air Force Colonel wanted to know.

"I can not fly like a bird. The energy between Silva and me is necessary" the Alveonan answered.

"You mean you...? er... What do you mean?" asked Jack confused.

"Silva sends energy, I send energy. I do rest my feet on the bounding"

"Er... like... you kind of roll on an energy pillow between the forest and you?"

"It is an approximate description O'Neill, but it is correct" Eolan indulged.

"Cool! Wait til Carter hears about that! She'll be speechless!" he rejoiced.

"Really O'Neill. If she is not your mate, what is your relationship to her?" Eolan wondered. He could clearly feel a whole cocktail of deep feelings in O'Neill's mind when he mentioned her. Why would he refuse to admit it? Lies were not possible in the Alveonan people due to their mode of communication, and it was very confusing for Eolan to experience someone who's words were in contradiction with his feelings.

"She is my 2IC. I work with her. That's it" Jack affirmed, trying to convince himself.

"This is confusing O'Neill. Your words and your feelings say differently"

"Yeah well.. We are friends too, if you have to know" Jack admitted.

"It is rare to have so deep and various feelings for one's friends in my culture" Eolan insisted.

"Too bad for you" Jack forced in his mind, hoping it would cloud his too obvious feelings.

"Do you have other friends O'Neill?"

"Yeah of course I have. Daniel, Teal'c, for starters" Jack answered, happy to change the subject.

"These are males, aren't they?"

"Yeah. I also work with them"

"Your mind does not color with the same feelings for these friends" Eolan observed.

"For crying out loud! Can you give it a rest? Carter's not my mate, end of the story" Jack protested.

"This is a shame O'Neill" the Alveonan concluded smartly.

"You can address your complaints to the Air Force" Jack muttered.

* * *

During the course of the conversation, they had climbed down from the complex structure of bridges and huts. Jack had observed 3 or 4 other lights -Alveonans- from above in the twilight. When they reached the ground, the other Alveonans gathered around them. Now, even with his crown of twigs, Jack found it difficult to hold them out of his head and he winced, which Eolan noticed. He explained to his brothers and sisters that O'Neill was new to mind communication and he asked them to restrain themselves, to spare their guest. The noise reduced immediately, which Jack was grateful for. He was introduced to Eolan's three sisters and two brothers. They were all half of Jack's size, all floating over the ground, and all bearing a jewel on their forehead, although each had a particular gemstone on it. With the six Alveonans floating in the air around him in their robes and long hair, glowing with blue light like auras, Jack felt like he had come in a fairy tale of some sort. He was certain Daniel would be able to track the Elves legends back to these people... It was all nice and well, but now he wanted to go back, and his mind gave him easily away. He was afraid he could have offended them, but a people used to communicate by mind reading could not afford to be offended by true feelings, and the Alveonans simply accompanied him to the temple. There, he found his weapons waiting. The Alveonans had obviously no sense for his stuff and they stepped back when he took them on.

"I will not hurt you" Jack felt he had to precise.

"We know you won't, but our people is sensitive to the material they are made of. It is too different from Silva" one of Eolan's sister explained.

"Oh... So.. no metal for you then?"

"No" Eolan smiled. "Only Silva"

"Only Silva" Jack repeated. He stepped in the temple while the Alveonans left the area so their minds would not disturbed his when he concentrated on activating the transporter.


	4. Caveman4

**Caveman**

 _Chapter 4_

Back at the SGC, Hammond ordered a debriefing as soon as Jack was released from the infirmary. It took a long time for Jack to relate his experience, his observations of the Alveonans and his wish to help them by fixing up their dome. Although Sam had been disappointed to learn that the Alveonans hadn't built the temples themselves, and therefore couldn't help her understand the technology, she was eager to see the control room herself, as they had told Jack they could help non-Ancients to use the transporter. She was also curious to learn how they could glow, as she was certain the explanation had something to do with the quantum theory! Teal'c wanted to know if the Jaffa legend about the Alveonan was completely true, and Daniel was eager to study their culture.

Hammond had agreed to a new mission and SG-1 was once again at the temple. Jack had just disappeared from the central tile, and SG-1 didn't know how long time it would take for him to come back with his new friend, so they just sat down and settled for a long wait. But only moments later were the walls flashing again, and Jack was back with an Alveonan female. Immediately, SG-1 was subject to a heavy collective headache as they all could hear the visitor in their heads. Jack was glad he was wearing the crown he had retrieved from the other temple, but the Alveonans could not design crowns for his friends before Telna, Eolan's sister, had met them and determined which gemstones each of them would need to be best protected. She touched each of them in turn to read their minds and body specifications, then she returned to her side of the planet, and the headache disappeared immediately.

"What was that?!" Sam complained.

"That... was someone else's mind in your head!" Jack informed smartly. "Be glad it was only Telna, and not the six of them!"

"Jack? What's on your head?" Daniel wanted to know.

"Oh... that? You'll get one too! All of you! That's the only way to keep their minds out of yours. Ah! Here she comes" Jack said as the walls were flashing once again.

"That was quick!" Sam noticed. As Telna was appearing on the central tile, headaches came back full force, but Telna gave each of them a crown, and suddenly they were fine.

"Ah. Now we all look like we are part of some Greek tragedy" said Jack with a smirk. The crowns were beautiful, each of them with different kinds of twigs and gemstones. Sam noticed that the headache was not completely gone, and she could hear a whisper in the background, which was not from her mind, but it was much better than without the crown. She wanted to study her own, but removing it from her head was definitely not a good idea, so she satisfied her curiosity by studying the ones on her friends' heads. Daniel's was of light twigs intertwined with green and yellowish stones, while Teal'c had red and blue ones. Jack had both amber and dark blue gems with dark twigs, but for some reason he had more gems than the two others, probably because his Ancient gene made him more sensitive to mind reading, she thought... She was curious to see her own crown... But soon, Daniel, holding hands with Telna, disappeared from the room, then, the Alveonan woman returned to fetch Teal'c as they had agreed, so that Daniel and Teal'c could meet and learn to know her people. That left Sam and Jack alone in the room, and they suddenly felt it was awkward. Eolan's words were spinning in Jack's head. Your mate. Feelings. Colors. A shame. And then, they realized that the faint whisper in the background of their minds had not ceased after Telna's departure. As it was only them left, it was now clear that they could hear whispers of each other's feelings and thoughts. These had been trivial at first, but when they were suddenly left alone in the room, Jack's thoughts had gone to her. As they filtrated in Sam's mind, hers automatically began to focus on him, and they could only stand there, lost in the revelation of emotions they were not supposed to have, and certainly not supposed to let the other know... Admiration. Tenderness. Care. Respect. And the now obvious certitude that the physical attraction they felt was not one-sided.

Jack was the first to react. He swiftly removed his crown and reached for hers. After a few seconds staring at each other in bewilderment, they began to breath again and lowered their eyes, both needing to break the contact and pull themselves together. Uncertain, Jack lifted his eyes again to meet hers. She held his gaze steadily, clearly assuming what he had seen, and acknowledging what she had learned. That woman is strong... Jack thought. He was not so sure that he had the same strength when it came to the feelings part. But she was smiling a knowing smile at him, and he returned it gladly, although he was embarrassed that she had had access to a part of his mind he barely acknowledged himself. Facing each other, he took both her hands in his, and concentrated on the control room. However, having just seen in her mind and shown her his own, holding her hands was doing strange things to him and it was very difficult to concentrate. He could _feel_ Carter's amused smile, even with his eyes closed. And he just _knew_ that smile was getting bigger and bigger as he found it more and more difficult to concentrate... Without realizing it, he was crushing her hands in his. She closed the space between them, nearly touching him, and whispered "Sir". He opened his eyes and jumped backward at the unexpected proximity. She managed to hold her giggle back, but she had a flashing smile on when she suggested they could take a break and try again later.

"You're having far too much fun Carter" he said, acting grumpy. The truth was that he was embarrassed, but surprisingly happy, and he had to turn away from her to hide his smile.

* * *

After a casual conversation over a cup of coffee, Sam and Jack were back in the temple, and holding hands, they transported to the control room. They tested each crystal panel to see how many of the crystals were still functional, and Jack even found a supply of replacement crystals under the main control panel. The alpha site had no use for the dome, tropical climate would actually be a problem for computers and other electronics, so they decided to pack the extra crystals and take them to the Alveonan temple. Sam wanted to try and learn how the dome was working, hoping she would be able to use the theory to develop shields. As she activated one of the panels, Jack felt his body vibrate on some kind of waves. However, Sam didn't seem to be affected by the waves, she didn't even notice them, busy as she was with the readings on her laptop's screen. She pushed some buttons to amplify the effect she had obtained, when she heard an awful scream in her back. She jumped and turned around, only to find her CO yelling in pain on the ground. Immediately, she turned the panel off, but Jack remained motionless. She hurried to check his pulse but she could not find it. She checked again, and again, and fearing that he had suffered a stroke or a heart attack, she began CPR, calling for him to hold on and to wake up. If she could not revive him, they would be stuck there until one of the Alveonans came to get them. That is, if any of them was still around when people would realize that they were missing. But she had no mean of contacting anyone, the radio did not work in the temple, and she could not get help to save him... Come on Jack! Hang on! Come back to me, please! Please! Tears were running down her cheeks as she felt she was loosing the battle. But she wouldn't give up. Once again she blew his lungs up, holding his nose tight and lifting his chin to liberate the air ways. He turned away from her and lifted a hand to free his nose, which she had held a little too hard in stress. Relieved beyond words, she laughed:

"Sir! You're back! Thanks god you're not dead! Oh my god..." Only then, she allowed herself to fall apart and cry.

"Hey.. Carter? What's the matter with you?" he whispered as he weakly came to his senses.

"Oh Sir!" was all she could say, squeezing his hand. It took some time for his sore brain to process the strangeness of the situation. He was laying in a kind of basement with panels, his body aching and his brain feeling like cotton wool. She was crying. He needed to sit up, so he struggled with that task and she helped him rest his back against the wall. Once he felt steady, he opened his arms and invited her to seek comfort there, which she did with a sob. He rested his spinning head on the top of hers and closed his eyes, feeling he had done the best he could.

When she had regained control of herself, she stole some extra seconds of the hug before her professionalism took over and she pulled away to check on her CO.

"Are you alright Sir?"

"You tell me Carter. What happened?" he said, still rather pale.

"I'm not sure Sir, but I think you had a heart attack. I thought I had lost you Sir. I couldn't find a pulse on you!"

"A heart attack? Never had heart problems before.."

"I'm not a doctor Sir, maybe I'm wrong, Janet will have to tell you what it was. I activated a panel on the controls, and suddenly you were yelling in pain on the floor. When I stopped the panel, you just collapsed and I had to give you CPR for.. I don't know.. it felt like hours!"

"I'm sorry I scared you like that Carter. What's that panel for?"

"I was not affected at all, so I'd say it must have something to do with the Ancient mind activation. But I'm not testing that again!"

"No... better not" he said with a tired voice, his head falling back against the wall. Sam worried again as he turned suddenly very pale.

"Sir?!" she called, alarmed.

"Carter" he said "You realize that if I had died, you had no mean to get out of here? This is just insane! We NEED to get stairs down here!"

"Good point" Sam approved. "Sir, we should go back to the SGC, you need to go to the infirmary and have Janet check you up"

"In a minute Carter, in a minute..." he said, needing to rest before he could even consider standing on his feet. "Look, d'you have some more things to do here? I could really use a 5 minutes power-nap..."

"I'd rather not touch anything down here before I'm sure we can get help if something should happen again. I'm not sure you would survive an other jolt today, I won't take the chance Sir!"

"Alright. Then, get some rest too..." he said, lowering his head carefully to the floor. She moved closer to him and offered him her laps as pillow. He hesitated at first, this was not really appropriate, was it? Well, he didn't care, he just wanted to sleep, and he would sleep better there than on the floor so... Thanking her, he settled down and closed his eyes with a sight, falling asleep immediately.

Sam couldn't rest. The floor was hard and she had too much adrenaline left in her system to relax. They had been lucky... She was surveying his breathing, observing him as he slept. He was resting his chin on the hand he had laid on her knee. She liked how his long eyelashes were softening his otherwise very masculine traits. The hair was getting gray on his temples already. She yearned to stroke the top of his head where hair peaked in any direction, but she didn't dare, afraid he would notice. She had placed her other hand on his upper arm and it was how far she would go. He was her CO after all, although in the year they had worked together she had developed rather unsettling feelings for him. Yeah OK. She admitted. She had a crush... A bad crush... She knew he didn't return the feeling, still attached to his wife... Ex-wife... But what she had seen in his mind some hours ago had unsettled her and her certitude that he only saw a soldier and a geek in her... He was waking up already, obviously remembering where he was this time. He rolled over on his back to look at her.

"Hey. Thanks Carter, that helped" he simply said, rubbing his eyes.

"Anytime Sir" she smiled. They stood up and, taking the extra crystals with them, they held hands to leave the control room. They appeared on the tile in the temple and walked out in the nice smelling air of the forest. Sam was eager to have Jack checked at the SGC and walked briskly on the path. But after a couple of minutes, her brain registered a thud behind her, and that's when she noticed that she had heard no footstep following her for the last half minute. Turning back in a hurry, she found Jack on the path, face down on the forest soil. She checked for his pulse while barking in the radio: "This is Captain Carter! I need a stretcher at the temple, fast. Dial SGC at once. Colonel O'Neill needs medical attention immediately!"

"Roger that Ma'am" the radio answered. "Two men on their way"

Waiting for the help to arrive, Sam sat down at Jack's side, wiping the beads of sweat and the dirt on his forehead, worried that he looked so pale. What had she done to him down there that he would collapse from the little effort that bringing them back had required from him?

* * *

"You were lucky Sir" Janet commented sternly.

"Yeah?" Jack replied with a hint of sarcasm. He couldn't quite agree that having his head fried in an Ancient toaster would qualify as "lucky".

"What was it Janet? Heart attack?" a worried Captain asked from the end of the bed.

"More like a stroke actually. His brain sort of shut down"

"Oh my god! But he is OK now, isn't he?"

"Incredibly enough, I don't think he will suffer any sequel but I need to keep him under observation for a few days. From what you described to me, I would have expected him to remain in a coma for quite a while, and chances were great that he would have been paralyzed, at least tempora..."

"Hey! HE is sitting right here! D'you mind?" Jack interrupted, annoyed. He felt like he was five again and the adults would talk over his head as if he weren't there. He had hated it then, still did.

"Sorry Sir" both women apologized, turning to him with the same contrite smile. He could not repressed an amused smirk.

"Good. So tell me what happened back there?"

"You collapsed as soon as we were out of the temple Sir"

"Yeah, you told me that already Carter, but why did my brain shut down?"

"I wouldn't know Sir, we would have to have a look at that panel and understand what it does..."

"I can tell you what it does! It felt like I had my head in a microwave!" Jack complained.

"You think it was sending waves of energy?" Sam mused. "But then, my brain should have been affected too Sir."

"Nope, yours' too big.." Yes! He had managed to make her smile! He didn't like when she looked so worried.

"We could assume that the energy wave activates the specific Ancient gene you are supposed to be the only one to have" Janet offered.

"I don't understand this. It should be the other way around! The Colonel's mind is usually activating the devices, how could the devices activate his gene?" Sam wondered.

"You tell me. You are the scientist here" Janet posed. Jack had a very goofy smile plastered on his face.

"What?" Sam asked, forgetting to acknowledge his rank in her stupor.

"I just love when other people say that." he said, settling back in his bed. If he had not been a superior officer, Sam would have thrown a pillow at him, he was sure of it! He smiled even broader at the thought.

"Guys! These people are _a-ma-zing_!" Daniel exclaimed when he entered the infirmary for his routine check as Teal'c and himself were back from the alpha site "They are the foundation to any fairy and elves tale on Earth! They can see your thoughts, make things appear and disappear, they use telekinesis and telepathy, they are in perfect harmony with the nature around them, and they told me their people live in different environments so that not all of them are depending on a tropical forest, many of their relatives live in temperate climates too! And they also refereed to the Greek myth of Phaeton, son of Helios, who burnt the Sahara. You know that the Sahara was initially a tropical forest right?!"

"Hey! My head!" Jack protested. He knew that when the overenthusiastic archaeologist made this face, he could go on for hours... Daniel looked at him, both hurt to be interrupted and surprised to find Jack in a bed.

"What happened to you anyway?"

"Ah... my head got fried in an Ancient toaster"

"There was an accident in the control room at the temple" Sam supplied guiltily. "When I activated one of the panels, the Colonel passed out"

"Not your fault Carter. You couldn't know" Jack assured.

"Thank you Sir" she said, contrite.

"So T. Had a nice trip?" Jack attempted to change the subject.

"Indeed. The Jaffa legends were entirely true O'Neill"

"I'm pleased to hear that" And especially pleased that, contrary to Daniel, Teal'c could express himself in so short sentences, he thought. Both newcomers were directed to beds for their routine check-up.

"You'd better get some rest now Sir" Sam said.

"I'll do that. You going home Carter?"

"Actually there was something I wanted to.." she said, pointing toward her lab.

"No way Carter. You need your rest too. Go home!"

"Is that an order Sir?" she asked coldly.

"I'd rather you do it because I asked. And because it's reasonable" Jack answered softly.

"Fine" she smiled. "See you in the morning Sir"

"Good night Carter"

* * *

Jack was smiling broadly at the frustrated doctor.

"I don't know how this is possible Sir, but all your tests are fine, and I double-checked. I never expected that you would recover so fast, that's incredible!"

"So I can go?!" he asked eagerly.

"Well, your tests give me no reason to keep you here, unfortunately. Although I..."

"Ah! You said I could go!" Jack interrupted.

"I know I did. Your tests are fine. But they shouldn't be. There is something I do not understand and that worries me. I want to run those tests again this evening though"

"Right. Fine." Jack conceded. "I'll stop by before I go home"

"Fine. See you tonight Sir" Janet sighted. "And Sir?... Take it easy today, will you?"

Jack could see the concern in her eyes and nodded with a smile before he left. She knew that once she had said the results were fine, there would be no way to keep him at the infirmary. But really, he shouldn't be that fine, and she was beginning to question her instruments...

Siler and his team had been sent to the temple to try and open a hole in the floor, which would make the access to the control room possible without mind activated teletransport. Sam was on her way to check the progress of the work, hoping she would soon be able to walk down those stairs and continue her study of the panels. As she arrived, she heard a cry and a string of curses followed. An airman ran outside, holding his bleeding hand to his chest, and fell on the ground. Siler came running after him and Sam joined them, already searching her pockets for her first aid kit. Siler helped the young man sit up and rest against the nearest tree while Sam attempted to clean the wound.

"I stumbled and cut myself on the saw... Entirely my fault Sir..." the young man apologized to Siler.

"That's a bad cut Johnson, we'd better take you back to the infirmary" the Sergeant answered.

"I... I don't think I can walk that far Sir..." Johnson said. The pain and the sight of the blood were getting to him and he looked rather green, Sam was afraid he would faint, or be sick.

"Just sit there Airman, I'll call for a stretcher" she said, reaching for her radio. The airman sent her a grateful glance and let his bandaged hand slip to the ground, blood already making its way through the material. Siler and Sam exchanged a concerned look, helping him to lay down as they waited for help.

Looking at the medical team hurrying out of the forest to take his man back to the SGC, Siler sighted and turned back to the temple where his team had resumed their work. He explained to the Captain what they were trying to do, she had the competence to understand their technical work and he appreciated to exchange with her.

"This material is incredibly hard and our tools won't go through" he said. "We've already ruined three of our best saws on it and the stone is barely marked. I begin to wonder it we should try explosives... What do you think Captain?"

"I'm not sure it would be a good idea Sergeant. I'm afraid it could do more damage than good..."

"I'm aware of that Captain, but the tiles are so tightly fitted to each other that we have no leverage to lift them mechanically, and our tools don't seem to be strong enough"

"I see your point Sergeant, believe me..." Sam answered while looking for alternatives. "Could you try and dig a passageway from the outside? I believe there was no instruments on the western wall of the control room, that would be a good entrance point"

"We could try that... But don't you think we will face the same problem when we come to the wall of the control room?"

"That's possible of course, but I believe you could get help from these machines that were too large to enter the temple, and if that doesn't work and you have to use explosives, the risk of damaging the temple would be less if it explodes from the outside, don't you think?"

Siler approved and called his team to give them the new instructions. Having no more to do there, Sam decided to return to the base.

As she was leaving the gate room, she nearly crashed in an airman.

"Oh, sorry Airman, are you alright?"

"Sorry Ma'am, I wasn't looking where I was going.."

"Airman Johnson?!" Sam asked in disbelief as she recognized the young man.

"Yes Ma'am"

"Aren't you supposed to be at the infirmary?"

"No Ma'am, I've been released"

"You can't be serious?! Your hand had such a bad cut, I would have thought you were in for surgery!"

"I know Ma'am, I thought so too, but as you see, it is nearly healed" he said, showing his hand with a little plaster on it.

"That's not possible!?" Sam cried. "The cut was so deep that I could see the bone!"

"Well... Doctor Fraiser said it was nothing and that I could go back..."

"What is it Captain?" General Hammond intervened as he had heard their argument from the control room.

"General! Airman Johnson cut his hand badly at the temple on the alpha site. I was there and I helped Sergeant Siler take care of him. I cleaned the cut, and it was so bad that I could see the bone, I was certain he would have needed surgery, and here he goes, his hand almost healed after barely a couple of hours!"

"Is that so?" Hammond asked, concerned as he was eyeing the plaster on the man's hand. "Are you sure of what you saw Captain?"

"Of course I am Sir! Sergeant Siler was there and he was very concerned too!"

"I also thought I would loose my hand Sir..." Johnson confirmed.

"Call for Doctor Fraiser to meet us in the briefing room this instant" the General said as he walked back to the stairs, a frown on his forehead.

"Captain? You back already?" Jack asked as he spotted her. But she had no time to answer.

"Colonel, call your team and follow us" General Hammond ordered. Surprised by the unexpected concerned tone of his superior, he complied, wondering why the airman was joining too.

As they all sat in the briefing room and the situation was explained, Doctor Fraiser took the opportunity to raise Jack's case too. His recovery had been all too fast for her liking and now that Johnson showed the same healing ability, she wanted to run new tests on them both. Jack sent a murderous glance at the innocent young man.

"Wait!" Daniel intervened. "Jack never showed this kind of ability before. Why would he now?"

"I have no idea Doctor Jackson, but the fact is that he does now!" Janet replied.

"Could this have something to do with the Ancient gene?" Sam suggested, turning toward Johnson.

"I have been tested for that at the alpha site Ma'am, and I don't have it" the young man supplied.

"And still... you nearly cut you hand off, and when I removed your blood soaked bandage back at the infirmary less than one hour after the accident, there was barely a scratch left, and the scans showed no sign of internal injury" Janet said, frustrated.

"What you are describing resembles very much the healing powers of a sarcophagus, Doctor Fraiser" Teal'c observed.

"This is correct Teal'c, but we have nothing near that kind of technology" General Hammond acknowledged. "How are these miraculous recoveries even possible then?"

"Well... Remember what I said when we first went back to the planet to study the temple?" Jack offered. After a moment of silence in the room, Daniel said:

"You said the forest had completely regenerated although we had ruined it while doing our measurements some weeks before"

"Exactly. Now, how did _that_ happen?"

"Could it be something in the forest? Or in the dome?" Hammond suggested.

"Both Colonel O'Neill and Airman Johnson were laying on the forest soil while waiting for help to arrive" Sam observed.

"Only Silva..." Jack mumbled.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, that's something Eolan told me. They call the forest Silva, and they kind of... interact with it. Get energy from it. They think of the forest as a person, an equal..."

"And you think the forest would have healing powers?" Hammond wanted to know.

"Well Sir, it looks like it could be the explanation for both Airman Johnson and Colonel O'Neill's miraculous recovery" Janet summarized. Jack grunted and six pairs of eyes turned to him.

"Then, why did Thompson die?" he frowned.

A silence fell in the room. The subject was still sensitive in Jack's mind, he blamed himself for the young man's death and his team had learned to act carefully around him when Doctor Jerry Thompson was mentioned.

"Well Sir" Janet tried. "Doctor Johnson was not really injured, he was poisoned by those bugs. Perhaps the forest can't cure that?"

"That would be correct Doctor Fraiser" Teal'c informed. "The sarcophagus would not cure poisoning either. It can only heal wounds and set the body back to its former state, but it can not remove or annihilate the effect of an extra substance in the body, nor can it regrow missing parts of it"

Jack's jaws tightened, but he seemed to accept the explanation and didn't comment on it. General Hammond however, was delighted.

"So it would appear that we have access to something with the healing powers of a sarcophagus! That's good news people! SG-1 and Doctor Fraiser, you will study this further. I want to know if there is a risk of addiction, and the Alveonans should be able to answer any question the doctor has about what we can expect. You are leaving tomorrow at 0700 hour. Dismissed"


	5. Caveman5

**Caveman**

 _Chapter 5_

After a brief encounter with Janet, Telna had left the temple with Daniel, and Sam was eager to see what kind of crown the Alveonan woman would design for the doctor. She loved her own, and the guys', as she could not help but think that each of them was matching perfectly the personality they were intended for. Eolan appeared on the tile to take Teal'c back with him, and Jack took Sam's hands to follow them. As they arrived to the temple on the other side of the planet, they were welcomed by Telna who waited until they had stepped from the central tile before she went and fetch Janet, holding a wonderful crown of nearly white twigs, large amethysts, a few small rubies and many rock crystals for the SGC doctor. When Janet and Telna appeared on the central tile, Janet was glowing under her new head wear.

"Wow Doc!" Jack exclaimed. "You look great!"

"Why... Thank you Sir..." the doctor answered with a faint blush. "You are not bad yourself, this crown is really fitting you. The same goes for you Captain. It's a shame twig crowns are out of fashion on Earth..." she added, following Telna out of the temple. The two women had the same interest in helping and healing, and they had much to discuss.

Eolan had offered to join Jack and Sam in the control room, although he did not see the point in trying to repair the dome. For the Alveonans, fate was a part of life and they never thought they could influence the life path of the Silva. If it was time for it to die, then they would die with it, and there was nothing to worry about. Waiting for Eolan, Jack and Sam stood outside the temple, contemplating the forest and the intricate of huts and bridges up in the trees. Jack could hear Sam's bewilderment in his head, as they both had their crowns on, and he loved the way she took everything in as if she was a little girl on Christmas Eve. He had a soft spot for her, there was no doubt about that. He wanted to see her smile, to protect her, to hug and touch her, but he also liked the soldier in her, though, fit, reliable. And well, the geek side of her too, if he had to be honest, but mostly because he loved to see her happy and excited by her work. He was proud of her, he relied on her to save the day, and well.. she was just Carter and it said it all. He was interrupted in his day-dreaming by a sudden, massive wave of warmth which nearly took his breath away. Searching for the source of it, he stopped dead on his feet as he met Sam's eyes, where he could see the exact same deep love he had just felt in his mind. He took a step back, and still confused, removed his crown to try and break the spell. However he winced as soon as the twigs had left his head, the loud voices invading his mind... Sighting, he put the crown back on and resolutely closed his mind.

Sam had felt the warmth of Jack's thoughts about her while he was dreaming, and she absolutely melted in the tender feeling she received. It was soft and sweet and caring. In reaction, she had felt the powerful love she nourished for him swell in her chest with a force that was almost painful. She did love that man, he was everything she wanted, although she could not have him, and that last part was contributing to keep it as an ideal which could never be deceived. However, she realized he had felt the wave of love that had been growing in her chest, and she was confused to see disbelief and something close to fear in his eyes as he reached for his crown. He winced as the contact broke, and he returned the twigs to his head, but the connection did not come back. His eyes went blank, and he was obviously shutting her out. She didn't know how he could do it, but she knew it was meant against her. He did not wish for her to read his mind, nor to be invaded by hers. She was suddenly embarrassed that her CO would have the knowledge of her feelings. But she couldn't help them, and as long as she was not acting on them, he could not hold a grudge on her, could he?

She was interrupted in her reflections by the arrival of Eolan. Sam was always fascinated to see the Alveonans float over the ground and her mind left Jack to focus on the possible physics laws back such a power. The Alveonan had a concerned look on his face, his eyes swiping from Jack to Sam and back. He had witnessed the interaction between them from a distance, and was again surprised by Jack's reaction. Why was he shutting her out? Why did he refuse to acknowledge his feelings for her? And why did he fear the love-energy she was ready to offer? Humans were strange creatures, with their articulated sounds and the total mess in their minds! However, O'Neill had made it clear that he did not wish to discuss this with him, and Eolan had no intention to force him to. Mind communication had to be based on respect of the others mind and wishes, you could not intrude, nor could you force feelings on others. This said, with mind communication you could not lie to others, nor to yourself, which made things a little less complicated.

* * *

Jack was relieved to see Eolan. He needed some time away from Sam just now, and it was a perfect timing. Eolan could go with Sam down to the control room, while he would take a little reckon mission outside the dome. He called Teal'c on the radio and both of them made their way through the lush forest. Noetel, Eolan's youngest sister, promised to join them later on, although the members of SG-1 doubted she would be able to catch up. They had not expected the forest to be so large either, it was almost twice the size of the one on the other side, so they had at least five klicks to go before they could reach the edge. The men appreciated the calm of a place with no mind communication, and they had attached their crowns on their backpacks. However, when Noetel showed up, they had to put them back on.

"How did you find us?" Jack wanted to know.

"The Silva told me where you were" she answered as if it was the most natural thing to say.

"How could a forest communicate with you?" Teal'c questioned.

"The same way you do, Teal'c. By the mind"

"Oh come on! Forests don't have minds!" Jack pointed.

"Don't you hear Silva when she talks to you?" Noetel wondered.

"I do not" the Jaffa answered.

"Anyway, how did you manage to catch up? We left long before you"

"I thought about you, and my mind took me to you. I believe your friend Sam understands this"

"You talked to her?" Jack wondered. To his knowledge, Sam had not left the temple and was studying the control room with Eolan.

"I visited her and she explained the theories your planet uses to explain energy. She called it quantum. She was frustrated however, as she understands the mechanisms ruling it, but can not master its use"

"Yeah.. I can imagine that..." Jack smiled.

"It takes some time, and a clear mind" Noetel explained as they reached the edge of the dome.

"Will your body be able to survive outside of the dome?" Teal'c asked.

"I can follow you for a short while" she answered as they stepped out to a dry and warm landscape with palm trees and wetlands visible at some distance. Jack was immediately reminded of Florida at the sight. The contrast between the temperature inside the dome and outside was not as sharp as it was on the alpha site side, which would explain why the crystals were not as depleted, holding the dome on this side somewhat larger. Noetel was carefully walking on the ground, which was very unnatural for her.

"Silva is not here, I can't interact with this soil the way I do in the dome. Some relatives of my people could interact with this soil, but my life code bounds me to Silva" she explained.

"Listen. Humans are not bound to Silva the way you are, however we noticed that we were healing faster when we had been in contact with the soil of the forest. Would you care to explain that?" Jack wanted to know.

"Of course. Silva is energy, and the dome keeps the energy inside. You are energy. Silva bounds to you, even though you obviously don't notice it. Silva makes your energy more active, therefore you heal faster"

"You mean.. Our bodies are activated by the forest in the dome?"

"In a way O'Neill. The energy bounds and flows between your body and Silva, the natural processes are enhanced"

"This is the same process as the sarcophagus O'Neill, only this is a natural way of doing it. It would not have saved your friend"

Emotions washed over Jack at the direct evocation of Jerry, before he managed to shield them away, and Noetel was hit by the force of the flow, which made her fall to the ground.

"You OK?" Jack worried.

"I am, thank you. My balance is uncertain on this ground, and your emotions are strong O'Neill. They unsettled me for a moment. But Teal'c is right, Silva can not cure a body which has been poisoned, it only helps a body to perform its tasks at a higher rate. Poison requires other means to be cured. You blame yourself for the death of your friend"

"Yeah... I do..." Jack admitted.

"Death is part of the life, you should not fight it. It is not an end, it is only an other state of energy" the young Alveonan posed.

"What you mean, an other state of energy?"

"Again, Sam would understand. Energy is everywhere, it organizes itself in different ways but it is only energy. It can change, reorganize itself. This is what you do when you use the tile in the temple. Your mind sends the energy from your body to an other place, where it reorganizes itself to reform your body"

"Like a wormhole..? Really?"

"Your mind is strong, but it is chaotic, therefore you don't master it completely. You could learn..."

"Yeah, right... I'll send Danny to you" Jack dismissed. They continued to walk in silence, until Teal'c noticed Noetel's faint glow.

"I believe your energy is growing weak. We should return" The Alveonan woman smiled at him and followed them back to the dome. As soon as she was inside, the faint glow surrounding her regained its bright blue color, and she raised from the ground, floating again on the energy pillow Eolan had described.

"That's cool!" Jack commented. After a short while, she had regained her full strength and left them to return to the temple by mind transport while they made their way through the bushes.

* * *

Meanwhile in the control room, Sam was studying the panels with the help of Eolan. Although he had no knowledge of how they worked, he was able to give her a feed back on their function without passing out. Noetel had visited them and the discussion had gone on quantum physics. The Alveonans did not understand how it worked, but they could use its effects, while Sam understood every detail of the theory but could not use it herself, even under the instructions of her new friends. Growing frustrated, she had decided to give up for the moment and to return her attention to the study of the panels, while Noetel left them to join Teal'c and O'Neill. At the evocation of her CO, Eolan perceived a wave of sadness in Sam and he asked her why. Surprised that he would be so direct, she didn't know what to answer at first.

"You love him and he shuts you out" Eolan posed quietly. Sam felt panic creep in her. She had never meant to share this secret with anyone!

"No! How...? I mean... Why..? No.." she stammered.

"Your feelings do not lie Sam. He feared the love he felt from you, and I do not understand why"

Sam sighted. There was no point in denying anything, it seemed that the Alveonan knew everything anyway.

"These feelings are not allowed. We can not... share feelings of this nature. He is my CO, my superior, we have to remain professional. In the job we do, we are not supposed to get.. attached that way, you understand?" she tried to explain.

"I can read what you say in your mind, but I do not understand how feelings can be forbidden"

"It's like... you are not allowed to love your sister the way you love your mate, right? This kind of feelings is not allowed, as a pretty universal law I would think. So you see, some feelings are not allowed. In the Air Force, feelings between superiors and subordinates are not either. Colonel O'Neill would not compromise our work by allowing inappropriate feelings between us"

"This is unfortunate Sam. I feel this is a burden for you"

"Well... In a way it is. But I am also glad we have this special relationship, even if that is all I can have" she smiled.

"When he first mentioned you, his mind colored in such a way that I was mistaken to think you were his mate"

"Really?" wondered Sam. "I know he cares about me, but not in the same way as I do. You see, he was married and I think he still has feelings for his wife. She would be the one he sees as his mate"

Eolan looked both surprised and confused at this revelation, and he remained silent while she resumed her work, changing the depleted crystals. At first, Sam was relieved that he would cease questioning her, but after a while she found the silence uncomfortable.

"Do you have a mate Eolan? As I understand, you are six brothers and sisters left here...?"

"We are brothers and sisters as of the same people, not by the blood" he smiled. At this moment, Noetel came back and she informed Sam that she could feel an increase in the energy from the Silva, which Eolan acknowledged too, witnessing the effect from the newly replaced crystals. Noetel told them of their excursion outside the dome, then they all decided it was time for a lunch break, and they left the control room.

The air outside the temple was full of energy, even Sam could feel it and she felt the tiredness from hours of work fade away. They met with Janet and Telna at the common table and were soon joined by Daniel and his new friends Rannel and Vital, who had spent the morning telling him of their culture and history. Gawynn, their last sister, joined them with fresh fruits and bread and she invited every one to sit and help themselves.

"Silva is strong today" Telna noticed, feeling revitalized by the new energy they could all feel.

"Sam has replaced some of the crystals in the temple, in order to increase the dome's energy" Eolan informed. All around the table smiled approvingly to her, but she was not as satisfied as she thought she would be. Something was not as it should. The energy should have expanded to make the dome larger, but it felt like the energy was accumulating inside the dome instead. She would have to go to the edge and see if the dome was indeed expanding, or not.

* * *

Teal'c and Jack had been walking in silence for about twenty minutes, lost in their own thoughts. That was the good thing with Teal'c, that he did not require that Jack would make conversation to him. Jack loved the Alveonans and knew that Janet and Sam especially, could learn many important things from them, but he found it exhausting to spend time in their company, due to the incessant stream of noise in his head. He wondered if his companions were as plagued as he was, or if he was getting more of it due to his now infamous Ancient gene, but fact was, he could not imagine spending several days on this side of the planet with the six of them talking in the background of his mind at all time, and he sure didn't like that his thoughts were suddenly displayed for everyone to see. It took much energy from him to keep his mind closed, and he knew he had hurt Sam when he shut her out in the morning, but what had happened then was not supposed to happen, and it was dangerous for them both. They could NOT afford this kind of feelings between them, and knowing that she actually... what? _Loved_ him? Liked him very much? Wanted him? Oh boy! Whatever it was, it made it harder for him to remain professional toward her. All of a sudden, Teal'c stopped walking and called:

"O'Neill?!"

"Yeah?"

"What is this noise?"

"What noise?"

"Is it wind?"

"There's no wind in the dome"

They both fell silent. It was no wind in the dome, they both knew it, but they could hear leaves rustling with more and more force. The forest was dense and they could not see anything wrong, nor could they decide which direction the sound was coming from. It also felt like the light was fainting, which was strange as they were still in the middle of the afternoon.

"What's happening Teal'c?" whispered Jack, all senses in alert.

"I do not know O'Neill" the Jaffa said, taking the back to back formation with Jack in order to protect each other's six.

"Teal'c? Where is the path?" Jack suddenly wondered. They had cut a path through the forest when they came, and they were following it on their way back. But now, he could not find it anymore, it was like the vegetation never had been cut. It was more lushly than ever. Actually, it looked like it was getting denser too...

"Could we have lost our way? It was just there!"

"It seems that the vegetation is growing back at an extremely fast speed O'Neill" the Jaffa posed. Jack studied the green wall around them.

"You are right Teal'c. I can actually see it grow! Look!" he said, pointing at a creeper wriggling its way up along a tree like a snake.

"How is this possible?" Teal'c grumbled. He felt something snake itself around his ankle and lowered his gaze. Big creepers were growing and threading between their feet. He tried to jump back, but his foot was taken in the vegetation, which was beginning to swirl around his leg. He stumbled, trying to keep his balance by grabbing Jack's arm, who fell with him. He had also seen the danger and was reaching for his knife. He tried to chop the creepers holding his ankles and legs, but they were already so thick... Teal'c didn't seem to have more success. As soon as he had managed to cut through one of the branches, it regenerated with two or three smaller but faster and more nimble shoots. Soon, both men were struggling in a heavy mass of vegetation and Jack fought to reach his radio.

"Carter! Daniel! Remove the new crystals! Now! Remove the... argh..." A creeper had swirled itself around his throat and he reached to hold it away from his air ways, but the situation felt desperate. The forest was strong and alive. It had decided to grow and invade every bite of free space, crushing both men in the process. There was no way they could escape...

* * *

After their lunch, Sam and Eolan had returned to the control room to try and understand why the energy had increased inside the dome instead of expanding. Daniel had joined Noetel in her walk toward the edge of the forest to check how far the dome went. There was still a possibility that the energy would slowly spread and expand with time, and if it was the case, Daniel would be able to measure how far the dome had expanded already. However, they did not go far before Noetel noticed something was changed in Silva. She could hear its roaring voice, eager to grow more and more, faster and faster, which was unusual. They both saw the rapid growth of the vegetation, and decided to turn back when they heard Jack's cry in the radio. Daniel answered and asked what was happening, but Teal'c and Jack's radios remained silent. Fear was creeping up Daniel's chest and he sat in a run toward the temple, Noetel floating hurriedly at his side. Sam was in the temple and she could not have heard the radio, they had to warn her at once!

As they arrived, they met the other Alveonans and Janet, all of them confused and worried by the notable change in their environment. All of them joined Eolan and Sam in the control room, demanding that she would remove the new crystals at once and expressing their concern for Jack and Teal'c whose hopeless struggle had filtered in the Alveonans' minds. As soon as the crystals were out, all of them returned to the surface to look for the men. Eolan tried to reach their minds, but he could not locate them.

"What does it mean?!" Sam wanted to know.

"It means that their minds are not active anymore" Telna answered.

"You mean they are dead?" Daniel cried.

"Dead, or unconscious" Telna calmly informed. "I sense Silva is calmer now. I will try to communicate with her and find your friends with her help"

The six Alveonans reached the gem on their foreheads and entered a deep state of concentration, witnessed by an intense glowing of both the gems and the light surrounding their bodies. The three humans were looking intently at them, hoping for good news but frustrated to be unable to help. All of a sudden, the six Alveonans disappeared.

"Where did they go?!" Janet wanted to know.

"Let's hope they have located Jack and Teal'c and will soon return with them" Daniel attempted to reassure her.

"Sir? Teal'c?! Do you hear me? Please respond!" Sam tried again on the radio. Silence was deafening and time seemed to pass extremely slowly while they were waiting for news from their friends. At last, Vital returned, holding an antelope in his arms.

"Silva sent me to her. She was almost dead, covered by bushes and squeezed by creepers. She needs help" he said, lowering the animal carefully on the soil and patting her.

"What about our friends?" Sam demanded, shocked that Vital would have gone to save the animal instead of the men.

"I do not know of their fate" the Alveonan casually answered while caressing the neck of the antelope. "I asked Silva to tell me where to find any living form needing my help, and she sent me to her"

Sam was about to protest when Rannel showed up, holding an ape-like creature with the same concern Vital had shown to the antelope. He lowered carefully the animal to the ground and provided the best care he could, but he soon gave up.

"The neck is broken. Silva sent me too late" he simply said.

"What about Teal'c and Jack?" Daniel wanted to know, his impatience growing.

"I do not know of their fate. Silva didn't sent me to them. I suppose it was to late for them too" Rannel said with such calm that, again, the humans were shocked. How could he be so little concerned?! Sam felt a wave of anger washing over her and both Alveonan males felt it. They frowned and took a step backward.

"I do not understand your anger" Vital said. "Why do you worry so much?"

"I want our friends back! And you don't seem to care about them! I thought they were your friends too!" she exploded.

"Of course they are. But if they are dead, what can we do?"

"We don't want them to be dead! We must help them!"

"You are afraid of death? Why?" Rannel calmly asked. With a furious growl, Sam turned away from the Alveonan to fight the temptation of hurting him. How could they not know, not understand her concern?! Facing the forest, she noticed four lights floating over the bushes at some distance. Between each pair of them, a body was floating in mid-air along with them. She started to run, followed by Janet and Daniel, the three of them stumbling in the creepers and branches. As they reached the group, Janet checked Jack's vitals while Daniel tried to find a pulse on Teal'c. As they both were satisfied that their friends were alive, they followed the group back to the Alveonans' settlement, where Janet fetched her medicine bag to give both men first help. It was clear that they had been squeezed hard by strong creepers and nearly strangled. Jack had a broken arm and two broken fingers, probably from fighting the creeper strangling him, as witnessed by the numerous scratches on his throat. Teal'c had a dislocated ankle and probably a couple of ribs cracked too. Telna assisted the doctor in her work, and the soil of Silva enhanced the healing process. The wounds were nearly healed when the men came to.

"Sir! How are you feeling?" Janet wanted to know. Jack winced and whimpered, grabbing his head with both hands before he passed out again.

"His crown! Where is the Colonel's crown?" Sam inquired. Eolan and Noetel left again to fetch the men's backpacks. They had had to leave the heavy packs behind as the Alveonans' minds could not lift them in addition to the human bodies. As soon as they returned, Daniel and Sam detached the crowns and placed them on their friends heads. Soon, Teal'c seemed to wake up.

"Hey Teal'c, how are you feeling?" Janet welcomed him.

"I am well Doctor Fraiser. I had to enter a deep state of kelno'reem when I realized I could not fight the creepers. How is Colonel O'Neill?" the Jaffa wanted to know as he noticed Sam trying to wake their unconscious friend.

"I think he is well. He came to but as he didn't have his crown on, he passed out again almost immediately"

"Ah... Gosh... What was that?" the Colonel complained when he woke up again, holding his temples with both hands.

"There" Janet said, handing him an aspirin along with his canteen. "Your headache should go soon, Eolan and Noetel got your crown back"

"What was with the plants? They tried to kill us!" he said, sitting painfully up before he swallowed the aspirin.

"I don't think they _intended_ to, Jack. As you had guessed, if I am to judge from your message on the radio, the extra energy they received from the new crystals made them grow at an incredible rate, and it seems that you were just... on their way..." Daniel explained. Jack rolled his eyes at him before pressing them with the palms of his hands, the simple rolling having fueled his headache.

"Any idea why the crystals did that, Carter?" he sighted.

"No Sir, I didn't have time to make any measurement. When I noticed the energy was increasing inside the dome instead of expanding it, I went back to the control room to check them. By the time, things had gone out of control and you were calling for help so we removed the crystals" Sam informed. As he perceived a hint of guilt in her voice, Jack lifted his head to check for confirmation on her face. Then, he returned his painful eyes to his palms.

"You are here to study the damn thing, Carter. You could not have known the forest would go crazy like that!"

"Yes Sir" she replied automatically.

"Good. Get your stuff all of you, we're heading home" Jack said, swaying a little as he stood up.

"But Jack!" Daniel protested.

"You can come back an other time Daniel. I think we've had enough for today"

"Sir, I would like to make a quick stop at the control room before we leave, just to make sure the readings are back to normal"

"Right. I'm coming with you. Doc, Daniel, you finish packing up and join us. Teal'c, you stay with them" Jack ordered, following Sam to the temple. Truth was, he felt weak and didn't like it. He didn't have the strength to close his mind to the background noise, which kept him dizzy. He wanted out of here, fast...

Once at the temple, he helped Sam down and waited while she was reading her instruments, making some recordings and pictures to study later in her lab. When she had packed everything, they returned to the tile room where their friends were just arriving, Daniel obviously not happy to leave so soon but Jack couldn't care less. He was afraid he would faint if they stayed longer.

With the help of the Alveonans, they returned to the alpha site, all of them removing their crown and stacking them up in their usual corner as they left. Last to leave the temple after Eolan's departure, Jack tiredly lifted his hands to his head to grab the twigs and go home. But his hand stopped in mid-air as he listened intently.

" _Jack_..." a voice said. " _Keep it on Jack_ "

Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, Jack tried to locate the source of the voice. It was not Daniel, but none of the others called him Jack...

" _Jack... come to me.._."

"Jerry?" Jack tried in disbelief.

" _Yes Jack. Come to me. To the cavern..._ "

Jack was now worried. Something must have happened when he was unconscious, perhaps the oxygen deprivation when the creeper strangled him had affected his brain. He hurried out to try and catch up with Fraiser.

" _You are not crazy Jack. It's really me. Come to the cavern_ "

"Jerry?" Jack interrogated again, standing still on the path. "But... You're dead!"

" _I know. But now you have the crown on and your mind is opened. Now you can hear me_ "

Unconsciously, he reached for the crown, searching the forest for his deceased friend.

" _The cavern Jack.. the cavern.._ " said the voice with less force, like it was about to disappear. Jack started to jog along, leaving the path to head toward the cavern.

"Wait for me! I'm coming!" he said, afraid the voice would leave. Then, his military training took over and he reached for his radio.

"Teal'c! Meet me at the cavern!"

"I'm on my way O'Neill" the faithful Jaffa answered immediately. The other members of SGC stopped on their tracks, not knowing what to do.

"What's happening?" Daniel wondered.

"I don't know..." Sam said, looking at Teal'c running toward the river.

"Well" Janet intervened. "The Colonel didn't say we should come along, what about we go to the camp and have a cup of coffee while we wait?"

"I like practical people" Daniel smiled at her, starting to walk again. Sam was still looking at Teal'c, who had joined Jack at the entrance of the cavern's valley. She wondered what had happened, and why the Colonel only had asked for Teal'c. It couldn't be anything dangerous, or he would have called for the whole team, wouldn't he? She felt that she should have been with them, but they would call if they needed her, so she resigned herself to join Daniel and the doctor to the alpha site.

* * *

As he joined Jack, Teal'c noticed that the man still had his crown on, and although he could see approbation on the face of the officer at seeing him, no words were exchanged as they continued to jog along. Once in the valley where Jack had spent six months of his life, they slowed down to a walk. Neither of them had been there since they had retrieved Jerry's plant samples, and it had been nearly four months since then already. The trees had lost their leaves and the wind was blowing cold, giving the valley a sinister look. However, Jack was surprised by the warm feeling he had at the sight. Except for the death of his friend and the following loneliness, he had been happy there. It had been home, safe. He walked up to the familiar boulder.

"Teal'c, you wait here, OK?" he softly asked. The Jaffa bowed his head. This was not an order but a request. They were obviously not on a mission, and what he wanted to know, O'Neill would tell him later on if he wished to. He sat down on the picnic table and took watch while his friend walked hesitatingly up to his former home.

As he entered, he noticed the leaves accumulated on the ground, the dirt blown in by the wind. It felt cold and empty. What had he expected? Jerry was dead. He was a fool. He had been tired and weak from their little experience with the killing plants, it had all been in his head. He was about to turn back when he heard it again, clear and close this time.

" _Jack_ "

"Jerry?" he jumped.

" _It's good to see you Jack. I was not sure you would come. Sometimes, you can be so... military_ " the smiling voice said.

"Where are you? Can you see me?"

" _I'm over here, on my bed platform_ "

Jack was staring, wide eyed, trying to see his friend and only seeing the bare stone. He sat down on his own bed and tried to relax. He was still doubting his sanity.

" _It's really me Jack. With the crown, you can hear my mind. I am stronger in the cavern, where I died. Death is only a new state of energy, it's not the end_ " Jerry said, repeating Noetel's words. The emotion Jack received was warm and soft. Little by little, he perceived a faint glow on Jerry's bed, wanting so much for this to be true, although he did not believe his own eyes.

" _Yes, now you see me, don't you? Keep opening your mind Jack. Yes. Good man_ " Jerry encouraged, using the same words as when he had taught Jack to prepare plants and ointments. And suddenly he was there, his frame glowing in a warm, soft light, smiling with this smile Jack had nearly forgotten.

"Jerry!" he acknowledged. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"

" _I'm good Jack. It's... different here. But good_ " the young doctor said. " _I met someone who wants to talk to you_ "

"Alice?" Jack asked. He remembered Jerry's last words about joining his girlfriend on the other side.

" _Yes, Alice is here too, but she is not the one_ " Jerry said, extending his hand to someone Jack couldn't see. A little hand took it and a new frame started to glow at his side. Reaching for his mouth with both hands, Jack repressed a sob.

"Oh god!" was all he could say.

" _Dad_..." the little frame said.

"Charlie..."

" _I'm glad to see you Dad. It's been a while..._ " the boy smiled.

"A very long while" Jack whispered, his throat feeling tight and sore.

" _I was looking after you Dad, I was not gone. I'm looking after Mom too_ "

"You are?"

" _Yes. And you make me sad. You are blaming yourself for my death_ " Charlie accused.

"I..." Jack tried to deny.

" _I know you do Dad. You think you had left your gun out of its drawer, but it's not true. You had locked the drawer and hidden the key back the picture frame, like you were supposed to. I just found it one day I knocked the picture down when my ball bounced into your room. I knew your gun was there, and I knew I was not allowed to touch it. It called for me Dad. It was my time_ "

"Why Charlie? Why?" Tears were running freely on the hurting father's cheeks.

" _I had done what I had come to do in this life. I was not supposed to grow up. In my next life Dad, I'm gonna be very old! But I will not be born again before many years still, so I'll stay with you until then_ " Charlie smiled.

"You will?"

" _Yes Dad. I'll continue to look after you and Mom. But you have to stop blaming yourself. And more than that, you have to stop punishing yourself_ "

"Why?"

" _You have to live Dad. It is me who died. You still have much to live. My life is over this time, it's not helping anyone that you waste yours over me_ "

Jack's face hardened. He wanted to punish himself. That was filling his life now. He couldn't be happy when his son was dead, when he could never share those things with him. Why should Jack be happy and experience life's delights when Charlie never could? By his fault...

" _You're wrong Dad. I have, in some former lives, and I will, in the next ones. We were not supposed to live these things together, but I could feel them through you if you stopped denying that to yourself..._ "

"Really?" Jack asked, a faint hope in his voice.

"Y _our life is not over Dad. You have much left to live. Many exciting things, much fun and love still. Don't worry for me, I'm fine here. Jerry's with me, and GrandPa, and GrandMa_ "

"Really? They're with you?"

" _We are, Son_ " two faint voices said.

" _I have to go now Dad. Will you listen to what I said?_ "

"I will Son. Thanks" Jack smiled.

" _Bye Dad. I love you_ " Charlie said, his voice and frame already fainting.

"Bye Charlie. I love you too"

" _Bye Jack. I will not see you again, but I'm glad you listened to me and came here. Thanks for my parents too. It meant a lot to them that you told them about my last months with you. Have a nice life now. I'll see you around some day_ " Jerry said.

"Bye Jerry. Thank you for... you know..." Jack waved toward the place Charlie had been standing. Jerry's frame sent an acknowledging smile before it fainted completely. Jack remained seated for some more long minutes, feeling at peace at last, and happy.

 **~ THE END ~**


End file.
